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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




THE INFANT JESUS. 
Raphael's " Sistine Madonna 




TALKS ABOUT THE WORD 



FOR 



Mothers and Children 



BY 



EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER 




:- 7- 



NEW YORK: HUNT & EATON 

CINCINNATI : CRANSTON & CURTS 

1894 






Copyright, 1894, by 

HUNT & EATON, 

New York. 




Composition, electrotypinpr, printirifr, and binding by 

HUNT & EATON, 

150 Fifth Avenue, New York. 



®o ^11 iHotljers 

Who hold to their royal office as instructors of their children 

these Home Talks are Dedicated, 

with the hope that they may be helpful in making clear 

and practical the vital truths of Christianity as 

embodied in the life and teachings of 

our Lord. 

EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER, 
Evanston, 111,, June, 1894. 



PREFACE. 



These papers, now presented in book form, were pub- 
lished through a period of years in the Christian Union 
newspaper. Although based upon the International 
Sunday School Lessons, they were not intended espe- 
cially for the use of the class room, but rather for the 
household. No attempt has been made in their arrange- 
ment to carry out exact chronological order, but only a 
general sequence of leading events, and study of the 
Scripture itself (as indicated in the table of contents) is 
always taken for granted. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Saviour-King. Luke i, 5-56 11 

II. A Song in the Night. Luke ii, 8-21 15 

III. The Babe in Jerusalem. Luke ii, 22-38 „ . . 19 

IV. The Visrr of the Wise Men. Matt, ii, i-ii 22 

V. The Flight into Egypt. Matt, ii, 12-23 26 

VL Jesus in the Temple. Luke ii, 40-52 29' 

VII. A Strange Preacher. Luke iii, 1-18 34 

VIIL The Bapitsm and Temptation. John i, 29-34; Luke 

iv, 1-13 39 

IX. The First Disciples. John i, 35-51 43 

X. The First Miracle John ii, i-i i 46 

XL A Talk with Jesus. John iii, 1-21 51 

XIL Jesus at the Well. John iv, 5-30 . 54 

XIIL Sowing AND Reaping. John iv, 31-42 59 

XIV. The Nobleman's Son. John iv, 43-54 63 

XV. Jesus Forgiving Sin. Mark ii, 1-12 67 

XVI. Jesus at Nazareth. Luke iv, 14-30 72 

XVII. The Widow of Nain. Luke vii, 11-17 77 

XVIII. A Message from John the Baptist. Luke vii, 18-35. • • 80 

XIX. Jesus at Bethesda. John v, 1-16 84 

XX. The Sabbath Day. Luke xiii, 10-17 87 

XXL Following Jesus. Matt, xvi, 13-28 91 

XXII. One Day With Jesus. Matt. xiv. 13-33 94 

XXIII. Feeding THE Multitude. Mark vi, 30-44 99 

XXIV. Coming to Jesus. John vi, 24-51 102 

XXV. The Transfiguration. Mark ix, 2-13 105 

XXVI. Jesus and the Little Maid. Mark v, 22-43 i-o 

XXVII. The Good Samaritan. Luke x, 25-37 1 14 

XXVIII. The Twelve Messengers. Matt, x, 1-42 117 

XXIX. The Seventy Messengers Luke x, 1-16 121 

XXX. Opening Blind Eyes. John ix, 1-41 125 

XXXI. The True Vine. John xv, 1-17 130 

XXXII. Confessing Christ. Luke xii. 1-12 133 

XXXIIT. Lost and Found. Luke xv, i-io 136 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXXIV. The Lost Son. Luke xv, 1 1-32. 140 

XXXV. The Kingdom of Heaven. Mark x, 13-22 144 

XXXVL The Parable of the Sower. Mark iv, 1-20 148 

XXXVn. How to Pray. Matt, vi, 5-15 153 

XXXVni. Forgiveness AND Love. Luke vii, 36-50 157 

XXXIX. The Rich Man and Lazarus. Luke xvi, 19-31 161 

XL. Sorrow at Bethany. John xi, 1-16 164 

XLT. Sorrow Turned into Joy. John xi, 17-46 168 

XLII. Jesus and Zaccheus. Luke xix, i-io 172 

XLIII. The Great Supper. Luke xiv, 16-24 176 

XLIV. Slaves of Sin. John viii, 31-59 179 

XLV. Entering the Kingdom. Matt, xix, 13-30 182 

XLVI. Careless Hearers. Matt, xi, 20-30 186 

XLVII. The Good Shepherd. John x, 1-30 189 

XLVIII. Words of Warning. Matt, vii, 13-27 193 

XLIX. The Harvest and the Laborers. Matt, ix, 36-38 ; 

X, 1-42 196 

L. Watching. Mark xiii, 1-37 200 

LI. The Parable of the Vineyard. Luke xx, 1-16 203 

LII. The Water of Life. John vii, 37-53 206 

LIII. Trust in Our Heavenly Father. Luke xii, 22-34 211 

LIV. Jesus Honored. John xii, 1-15 216 

LV. The Triumphal Entry. Matt, xxi, i-ii 220 

LVT. Unfaithful Servants. Matt, xxi, 33-46 224 

LVII. The Two Great Commandments. Mark xii, 28-34 227 

LVIII. Our Lord's Last Lesson. John xiii, 1-17 230 

LIX. A Precious Prayer. John xvii, 1-26 233 

LX. Our Place in Heaven. John xiv, 1-14 236 

LXI. The Spirit of Service. John xiii, 18-30 239 

LXII. The Comforter, the Teacher, the Guide. John 

xiv, 15-31 243 

LXIII. Jesus Betrayed. John xviii, 1-27 246 

LXIV. A Cruel People. John xviii, 28-40 252 

LXV. Jesus Delivered TO BE Crucified. Matt, xxvii, 11-31. 258 

LXVI. Jesus Crucified. Luke xxiii, 26-49 262 

LXVII. Jesus Risen. John xx, 1-18 266 

LXVIII. Visits From Jesus. John xx, 19-31 270 

LXIX. Simon Peter. John xxi, i-i 7 273 

LXX. Last Days of Jesus. John xii, 23-36 277 

LXXI. The Ascending Lord. Acts i, 1-14 280 

LXXII. The Believing People. Acts ii, 1-47 284 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE SAVIOUR-KING. 

Our precious Bible which God has given us is in two 
parts. The part which he gave us first we call the Old 
Testament, and the part which he gave us after our 
Lord Jesus Christ came into the world we call the New 
Testament. The beautiful stories of Abraham and Jacob 
and Joseph and Moses are in the Old Testament. It 
tells us also how God took care of his people through the 
long years that they were in the wilderness, and how he 
brought them at last into the land of Canaan. It tells 
the story of their kings — David and Solomon and all the 
rest — and the prophets and the teachers God sent them 
that they might not forget to watch for the Saviour who 
was some day coming to save the people of Israel and 
all the nations of the earth. 

In the garden of Eden God had told the first man and 
woman about this Saviour-King, and all through the years 
he had repeated the promise. David sang about him in 
his beautiful songs, and Isaiah and the other prophets 
had been allowed to look away down the years and see 
where the King should be born and how he should live. 
But even these prophets did not understand much about 
the Saviour-King, and so it was not very strange that the 



12 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

people forgot all about his saving them from sin, and 
truly thought that the King who was coming would de- 
liver them from their enemies who had conquered them 
and make them a great and powerful nation. They 
thought he would reign in Jerusalem in a splendid palace 
and fill all the city with his riches, as Solomon had done. 
Most of the people had even forgotten to watch for him, 
but some remembered the promise, and were praying 
and hoping, and sure that the time must be very near. 

It was to soine of these watchers that by and by a 
message was sent to tell them that the world's Saviour 
was coming. A message was sent to a good old priest 
named Zacharias, and his wife Elizabeth, that a little 
son was to be born to them who should be the herald of 
the Saviour-King, to tell people he was coming and pre- 
pare them to receive him. And another messenger was 
sent to Mary, the cousin of Elizabeth, to tell her the 
wonderful news that this King who had been so long 
waited and watched for was to be her own little son, 
given her by the great Lord of life, a precious, holy gift. 
A glorious angel brought the message, and he told her 
this divine child was to be called Jesus, because he 
should save his people from their sins. 

When Isaiah w^'ote of the coming of the Saviour-King 
he said those that were watching for his coming should 
sing together, and that even the hills and the waste places 
should break forth into joy. And so Mary, when she 
went to tell her cousin Elizabeth of the good tidings the 
angel had brought her, sang a song of gladness. She 
only thought of her own joy and of praising God for 
bestowing upon her this great honor, that she should be 
the mother of the Saviour for whom her people had 
been looking for hundreds of years. But Mary's song 



THE SAVIOUR-KING. 1 3 

has been preserved for us, because it is a part of the 
story of Jesus, and since that day thousands of people 
in lands that had never been dreamed of in Mary's day 
have sung its sweet words of praise. Is it not a beautiful 
thought that this young Jewish girl, in a humble Jewish 
home, just singing the gladness of her own heart, should 
have started a psalm of thanksgiving that has gone on 
ever since, drawing new voices to join in its music? 

Mary was only a sweet, true-hearted woman, no wiser 
than other women, and she may very likely have thought 
the humble home, where she expected to live with Joseph 
the carpenter, who was to be her husband, was a very 
poor place for the home of a king. But her boy w^as to 
be born in a much more lowly place than this. . Just 
before he was born the great Roman emperor, whose 
servants all the Jewish people were, sent out a command 
that they should all be taxed, so that he might have more 
money in his treasury. And to save his officers trouble 
the people had to come, each man to his native city, to 
have his name written on the books and pay his tax to 
the collector. So from all over the land, sometimes a 
very long distance, whole families came traveling to the 
towns and cities where they were to be taxed. Joseph 
and Mary came from Nazareth, away in the north of 
Palestine, to the little town of Bethlehem, near Jeru- 
salem, the very Bethlehem where David lived when he 
was a shepherd boy. A great many other people came 
also, and the town was so full that there was not room for 
all the visitors at the inn or among their friends. Some 
of them were lodged in the stable, but we need not think 
of this as any hardship, for people in that country were 
often so lodged. Probably Joseph and Mary were very 
glad to get so comfortable a place after their long jour- 



14 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



ney ; but here in this lonely stable the Saviour-King was 
born, as if to show that his coming was to be a blessing 
not only to the poor, but even to the dumb beasts for 
whom he taught us our Father cares. There were no 
royal robes for the little King to wear ; he was dressed 
just as all young babies were in that day, by wrapping 
him from head to foot in long strips of linen, called 
swaddling bands, and he was laid in the stone manger 
where the cattle were fed. In the inn perhaps a few 
people knew that a little baby was born out in the stable, 
but none of them thought that a greater king than 
Solomon had come to set up his kingdom among them. 
It was only in heaven that the wonderful event was 
really understood, and the first song of welcome and 
rejoicing was sung by the heavenly host. 




A SONG IN THE NIGHT. 1 5 



CHAPTER II. 

A SONG IN THE NIGHT. 

Only a few persons had been told the wonderful news 
that the time had come fbr the birth of the Saviour. 
They were none of them great people ; and when at last 
he was born, in Bethlehem of Judea, the angel who 
brought the good tidings was not sent to the king or to 
the high priest, but to some shepherds who were watch- 
ing their flocks by night in the fields near the little town. 

We do not know the names of these shepherds, or 
anything about them ; but God's messages come to 
those who are waiting to hear and ready to receive 
them ; so we can be quite sure that they were men who 
thought about the promised Saviour and were watching 
for his coming. In these very fields David used to tend 
his sheep ; it was here that the lion and the bear came 
and took the lamb from his flock ; and here, in the starlit 
nights, he may have sung his song beginning, " The 
heavens declare the glory of God." What would these 
shepherds do as they lay there, wrapped in their gar- 
ments of camel's hair ? Perhaps they would sing some 
of those very songs of David that were still chanted in 
the temple, or talk about a wonderful story that some 
one had brought from the hill country of a child who 
had been born to an old priest, who was said to be the 
messenger sent to prepare the way of the Lord. 

Suddenly, while they were singing or talking, or si- 
lently watching, a great light shone round about them ; 



l6 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

not a light like the sun or the moon, but more splendid 
than either, for this was the glory of the Lord, and in 
it they saw an angel standing by them, and they were 
" sore afraid." The angel may have been there before ; 
Gojd's angels may often be about us, as we know that 
God himself is ; but our eyes cannot see them, and so we 
forget them. VVe speak words and do deeds that would 
make us tremble with shame and fear if we could see the 
holy faces looking upon us. And sometimes, when we 
kneel and say " Our Father," as if we really believed 
God was in the room and listening to our words, we are 
thinking of other things — of our work or our play or our 
plans. What if, all at once, as if a curtain were drawn 
away, the glory of God should shine out and we should 
hear him say, " I am here ; I am listening ? " Even if 
we were quite honest and sincere we should probably be 
as the shepherds were, sore afraid. 

The first words of the angel were, " Fear not." The 
message is one of love ; it is good tidings of great joy, 
the very best news that ever was told to man ; the news 
that the Saviour was here, born that day, in the city of 
David : good news for all people ; for this Saviour is 
not a king of the Jews, but Christ the Lord, who comes 
with the tidings that it is all the world which God so 
loved as to send them salvation. 

The angel told them where they should find the babe 
and how he would be dressed, and then, as if they could 
keep silence no longer, a multitude of the heavenly host 
were with the messenger, praising God and saying, 
" Glory to God in the highest ; and on earth peace, good 
will toward men." David had never sung any such 
song as that ; no such song had ever been sung on earth 
before : good will from God to everybody ; not anger, 



1 8 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

but love ; not punishment, but help ; not wrath, but 
mercy ; not war, but peace — good tidings of great joy 
to all people. 

When the angels went away the shepherds did not 
wait, but went with haste to Bethlehem. They did not say, 
'' Let us go and see if it is so," but, " Let us go and see 
this thing which has come to pass;" they hastened 
because they believed. Just as they expected, they 
found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger, 
and when they had seen him they went about telling to 
everyone the wonderful things the angel had told them 
about the child. They told Mary also, and, while other 
people only wondered, Mary treasured up the words in 
her heart, and thought about them, and did not forget 
them when the shepherds had gone back again to their 
flocks. 

The shepherds did go back again to the fields, though 
they praised God as they went and thanked him for 
what they had seen and heard. Why should we not be 
as glad as they were at the good tidings of great joy? 
The news is just as true and just as sure to-day as if each 
one of us had received it from the angel host, and we 
are to do exactly what the shepherds did : 

Listen to the message. 

Believe it. 

Go just as we are bidden to find the Saviour for our- 
selves. 

Tell the good news to others. 

Go about our daily work praising and glorifying God. 

If we do this we are taking up the song the angels 
sang, and spreading over the world the blessed tidings 
of God's love and good will to all people. 



THE BABE IN JERUSALEM. I9 



CHAPTER III. 

THE BABE IN JERUSALEM. 

The crowds that filled the town of Bethlehem have 
gone back to their homes, and it is once more a quiet little 
village, with room enough in the inn for travelers. But 
in some one of its humble homes one family that came 
from a long distance still stays. Joseph is there, with 
Mary his wife, and the babe Jesus ; for when this child is 
forty days old he must be taken to the temple at Jeru- 
salem and given to the Lord. Every first-born son 
belonged to God ; but, instead of becoming a priest and 
serving in the temple, the parents could give a sum of 
money to redeem the child, and so receive him back 
again. Perhaps, too, Joseph and Mary did not mean to 
go back to Nazareth. They would not forget what prom- 
ises had been made about this child, or what a wonder- 
ful story the shepherds had told of angels who called him 
" Christ the Lord." Would they not be quite likely to 
think that right here in the city of David, near by Je- 
rusalem, was the best place for the royal child to be 
brought up ? 

But now the babe is forty days old, and Joseph and 
Mary go up with him to Jerusalem, to offer their sacri- 
fice and to present him to the Lord. Let us go with 
them, for they will probably walk along the narrow, hilly 
road, Joseph with his staff, and Mary carrying the baby 
wrapped in the veil that is thrown over her head and 
shoulders. 



20 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

In the city of Jerusalem they must buy their offering; 
if they were rich it would be a lamb and a dove, but as 
they are poor it will be a pair of doves — turtledoves, 
with their purplish-gray feathers and great soft eyes, 
such as the dealers sell in the courts of the temple for a 
few cents. The offering is bought, and now Joseph and 
Mary go reverently toward the priest who is waiting to 
receive it. The mother never forgets what things have 
been foretold of this child ; she ponders them in her heart, 
and is always expecting to hear more. She wonders 
now if the priest will think this is no more than a com- 
mon baby. Others are in the temple. It is the hour 
when they may come to pray in this holy place, and there 
at this very moment comes old Simeon. Everybody 
knows the devout old man, w^hose life has been full of 
goodness, and whose heart is so true and pure that God's 
Spirit fills it like light. He is growing feeble, and peo- 
ple who see him going up to the temple say he will not 
live much longer. But there is one thing Simeon is wait- 
ing for ; he wants to see the Saviour of the world before 
he dies, and for years he has just been waiting for that, 
because God has promised him that he shall see him, and 
so he is always watching. He sees this little child that 
the mother is bringing to the priest, and the Spirit tells 
him, ''This is he." 

How glad old Simeon is ! He does not ask any ques- 
tions, but just takes the child in his arms and blesses 
God, and says, *' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant de- 
part in peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the 
face of all people ; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and 
the glory of thy people Israel." 

The priest and the people who stand by look won- 



THE BABE IN JERUSALEM. 



21 



deringly on, and do not understand what old Sinneon 
means. They only expect a king who shall save them ; 
they never think of God's sending salvation to all peo- 
ples, or that their glory must be in carrying the light to 
nations that sit in darkness. 

But here comes another saint to whom God has 
spoken, Anna, the prophetess, a very old woman, whose 
whole life is spent in prayer and in talking with friends 
who, like her, are w^atching for the time when God shall 
save his people. She, too, knows that this is the prom- 
ised one, and she thanks God also, and hastens to tell the 
news to those who have watched with her. 

Deeper grows the w^onder in Mary's heart and in Jo- 
seph's. Simeon tells them plainly of the work this child 
is sent to do, but for the first time they hear of some- 
thing besides joy and triumph. This King is going to be 
spoken against ; the Jews are not going to receive him ; 
they are going to show out the evil of their thoughts and 
wishes and desires, and only by being humbled are they 
to be lifted up. The old man has a message, too, for 
Mary ; she has been glad and proud that she has been 
made the mother of this blessed babe, but Simeon tells 
her that sorrow like a sword will pierce through her 
heart, and now she has one more thing to hide away and 
ponder. 




22 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE VISIT OF THE WISE MEN. 

Away off in Persia, and Arabia, and in countries a 
long distance from Canaan there were people who 
knew that some day a wonderful child was to be born in 
Judea, in whom all the nations of the world were to be 
blessed. God has many ways of teaching people, and he 
speaks by his Spirit to those who really seek to under- 
stand and do his will. In some way these wise men as 
they read and studied and thought about what had 
been promised were so taught. They said to each other, 
" This is the time for that Saviour-King to be born ; we 
must be watching for him.'* 

Then one night they saw in the heavens a great beau- 
tiful star, and they said, "This is his star; we will go to 
Judea and find him." 

So they took rich gifts, as men did who went to the 
court of a king, and made the long journey across the 
desert until they came to the city of Jerusalem. They 
thought, of course, they should find the King there, but 
when they asked, " Where is he that is born King of the 
Jews?" no one knew anything about him. The Jews 
had a bad, cruel king named Herod, who had been set 
over them by their Roman conquerors.' They feared and 
hated him, and they were all hoping for a king who 
should be strong enough to deliver them from him. 
They were all excited over the coming of the wise men, 
and they went about asking, " Is it really true that the 




LO, THE STAR WHICH THEY SAW IN THE EAST, 



24 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

King is born ? Where is he ? Who is he ? " But they 
never dreamed that this little baby down in the manger 
at Bethlehem was the promised King. 

Herod heard about the strangers, and he was greatly 
troubled. He, too, knew that a king had been promised 
and so he sent for the men who knew most about what 
the prophets had written, and asked them where the King 
was to be born. They told him that, more than seven 
hundred years before, the prophet Micahhad said that the 
King should be born in the little town of Bethlehem. 
When Herod heard this he said in his heart, '* I will 
send to Bethlehem and kill him ; he shall never be king." 

But how could he be syre of finding him ? First he 
called these strangers and asked them at what time this 
strange star appeared, and after they told him he said, 
'' My wise men say that this child will be born in Beth- 
lehem. Go to Bethlehem and find him, and then bring 
me word again, so that I may come and worship him 
too.' 

Herod hoped to find the very child who had been born 
King of the Jews ; but if he could not find him he still 
felt sure of killing him, because he meant to kill all the 
little babies in the town. 

The wise men started toward Bethlehem. Probably 
it was evening, and they wondered how they should 
know the house where the young child was ; but there 
in the sky they saw again the same star which they had 
seen away in the far east, and it moved on before them 
like a guide until it shone over the very spot where 
Jesus was. The wise men were very glad to see it; 
they knew God was leading them and that they could 
not go wrong. When they came into the house and 
saw the young child with Mary, his mother, they knew 



T?IE VISIT OF THE WISE MEN. 



25 



instantly that this was the King. They fell down and 
worshiped him, and brought out their precious gifts, and 
gave to him gold and sweet spices, such offerings as 
men give to kings and lay upon God's altar; for this was 
a heavenly king. 

Herod was waiting for them at Jerusalem, but they 
did not come. God warned them in a dream not to go 
back to that bad man, so they went home to their own 
far country by another way. When they came they 
were asking, " Where is the King ? " But now they must 
have been rejoicing and saying, " We have found the 
King." But though they were very wise men they did 
not begin to understand what a precious gift God had 
sent into the world, or what a blessed King this was 
who should save Jiis people from their sins. 




26 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER V. 

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 

Another warning. When the wise men fell down 
and worshiped the infant Jesus and called him a king 
and spread their rich gifts before him it seemed as if 
almost any day he might be sent for to come up to Jeru- 
salem and be proclaimed king. But as soon as the wise 
men had received their warning from God and gone 
away to their own country a message came to Joseph 
also. In a dream an angel appeared to him and said, 
''Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and 
flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee 
word : for Herod will seek the young child to destroy 
him." 

Egypt was more than three hundred miles away, and 
all the way the little Jesus must be carried in his mother's 
arms as she rode upon an ass. It Avas a very long, hard 
journey. Could not God take care of this King? Was 
he not stronger than Herod ? 

Joseph did not wait to ask any questions. God had 
told him what to do, and as soon as he arose he took 
the young child and his mother and departed into Eg}'pt 
while it was yet night. They made the long journey 
safely, and somewhere in the l.ind of Egypt they found 
a home where they lived, perhaps among friends, wait- 
ing for God to tell them what to do next. 

While Joseph and Mary and Jesus were traveling day 
after day along the road to Egypt, Herod was growing 



THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT. 2/ 

impatient because the wise men did not come back to 
tell him where the King was born. He waited until he 
was sure they had gone home, and then he was in a 
great rage. He was angry because they had not done 
as he had bade them, and he was furious to think that 
perhaps, after all, this new King might escape him and 
take his kingdom. He called his soldiers and told them 
to kill every little boy that was -under two years old in 
the town and all around in that part of the country. 
Poor, foolish, cruel Herod ! He had done so many 
wicked things that his heart was too hard to be sorry for 
the little innocent babies or their broken-hearted fathers 
and mothers. He did not care at all that the land was 
filled with weeping, and he went on doing dreadful deeds, 
until one day God touched him and he died. There was 
not one to mourn for him ; even his own children were 
glad, for he had killed three of them and might have 
killed the others if he had lived any longer. His son, 
Archelaus, was made king. 

When Herod was dead the angel came again to Joseph 
and bade him go back again to the land of Israel, and 
Joseph obeyed. God did not tell him just where he was 
to live, and he started for Bethlehem in Judea. But as 
he got nearer and began to meet friends and acquaint- 
ances and talk with them about the new King he was 
troubled by what he heard. They said, "Archelaus is 
king; he is even worse than his father — more bloody 
and selfish and cruel." So Joseph was afraid to go into 
Judea. 

God chose for Joseph. He whispered to him, " Go 
back into Galilee, to your old home at Nazareth there. 
Nazareth is the very town where so many years ago 
Isaiah said the Saviour-King should live." 



28 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



They went to Nazareth, and there for twelve years 
Jesus, our Lord, Hved in the humble home of Joseph and 
Mary, obeying them in all things, and growing so pure 
and beautiful and gracious day by day that he won the 
love of all who saw him. None of the people about him 
ever thought that he was a king, or that he was any 
different from the other children of the town. He was 
always good, but they did not wonder very much about 
that. The Bible says he grew and was filled with wis- 
dom, and the grace of God was upon him, and he grew 
in favor with God and man ; but for many years he 
served God by obedience to his parents, like any com- 
mon child. 

The wise men in their far country heard nothing 
more about the King that had been born. The shep- 
herds that heard the angels sing did not know what had 
become of the little baby they saw in the manger. The 
old saints, Simeon and Anna, who were so glad when 
the child Jesus was brought into the temple, had died 
and gone to heaven without seeing him again. But all 
the time Jesus was about his Father's business just as 
much as when he began to teach and to cast out evil 
spirits. 




JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 29 



CHAPTER VI. 

JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 

If anyone could tell us the true story of the childhood 
of Jesus we should be interested in every day and hour 
of his life and everything he said or did. But all that 
we know of his first twelve years is summed up in one 
short verse, *' And the child grew, and Avaxed strong 
in spirit, filled with wisdom ; and the grace of God was 
upon him." There could be no more beautiful story of 
a child's life than that, to grow healthfully in body and 
mind; to be filled with the wisdom and to be ruled and 
guided by the grace of God, that would make a perfect 
life that would move on so smoothly that perhaps others 
would never notice it to think how wonderful it was. 

Mary may have thought about it, because she kept in 
her heart the memory of the strange things that had 
jDcen told her about her boy, and, as she taught him the 
commandments and the words of the law and the things 
that every Jewish lad must learn before he was twelve 
years old, she must have often been astonished at this 
wisdom with which he was filled. But we can only guess 
how that might have been, for the next thing we are 
told is of his first visit to the temple, made when Jesus 
was twelve years old. It was the feast of the passover, 
and from all over the land little companies of friends 
and neighbors journeyed together to Jerusalem, resting 
under the palm trees by the way or camping at night 
where there was a well from which they could draw. 



30 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

As they came nearer to Jerusalem other little com- 
panies would join them, and before they entered the 
city there would be a long procession, singing songs of 
praise and thanksgiving for the deliverance from death 
which came to their people so many years before in the 
land of Egypt, when they were the slaves of Pharaoh. 

It was a great event for every Jewish boy when, at the 
age of twelve years, he was taken to the temple and him- 
self took part in the solemn ceremonies. From that 
time he was considered not a child, but a man, and 
must begin to learn some trade or business by which he 
could make a living. Probably there were other lads 
with Jesus, his companions and relatives, and they may 
all have gone to the temple together and been questioned 
by the wise old priests to see how well they had been 
taught and what they understood about the law. 

But when the feast was over the companies started to 
go home. The men were accustomed to walk by them- 
selves and the women by themselves; so when Mary did 
not see her son she said, " He is with his father or with 
some of the other lads," and Joseph thought, " He is 
with his mother or his cousins," and without any anx- 
iety they went on, until nearly evening. 

Then they began to look for him. They went around 
among their relatives and their acquaintances, but 
nobody had seen the boy, and so in great alarm they 
turned back to the city. There they sought him for three 
days, and at last, when they had begun to fear lest they 
never should see him again, they went into the temple 
where the wise teachers were explaining the law 
and answering the questions of those who listened. 
There, in the midst of them, was Jesus, listening to their 
words, asking them questions and answering with such 



32 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



wonderful wisdom the questions they asked him that 
everybody was astonished at him. But Mary did not 
stop to think about his wisdom. She only knew that 
here was her dear boy alive and well, and looking as if 
he had forgotten all about her and how frightened and 
broken-hearted she had been all these days. 

She said, " How could you treat us so? Do you know 
how your father and I have sought you, sorrowing?"* 




JLbUb IN iHE TEMPLE. 
After the painting by W. Holman Hunt. 

Jesus seems often to have been disappointed that Mary 
did not understand him better, after all that had been 
told her about him, and now there is a kind of wonder 
in his words : " Why should you seek me? Do you not 
understand that now I am twelve years old it is time for 
me to be about my Father's business, the business of 
my life? " 

But it was not the chief priests and the doctors of the 



JESUS IN THE TEMPLE. 



33 



law who were to teach Jesus about his Father's business. 
He was not to be taught in Jerusalem city at all, but in 
the humble little town of Nazareth, and so, obeying 
the Spirit who led him always, he went back home. 
There for eighteen years longer he worked with Joseph 
at the carpenter's trade, an obedient son. 

His body grew to manhood, his mind developed, and 
his character was so perfect and so beautiful that he won 
the love and admiration of those who knew him. Best 
of all, he had the favor of God. He was his '* beloved 




NAZARETH. 

Son, in whom he was well pleased," just as surely when 
he was working in the carpenter's shop as when he was 
healing the sick and raising the dead. How Mary must 
have wondered as day by day she^saw her son going on 
just as other men did, with nothing to show that the 
glorious things of which the angel had spoken were ever 
to come to pass ! Could she have dreamed about the story 
of Zacharias and the shepherds and the rest ? No, she 
knew it was all real, but what did it mean ? She did not 
talk about these things but she kept them all in her heart, 
and treasured up all the sayings of her son Jesus. 



34 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER VII. 

A STRANGE PREACHER. 

If you had lived a long way from Jerusalem, and had 
gone on a visit to the city at the time of which we read in 
the third chapter of Luke, you would have seen many peo- 
ple passing through the streets and going out at one of the 
city gates. You would have noticed that they all seemed 
to take one road and go across the plain toward the river 
Jordan. And then you might have seen just such com- 
panies coming from all the little villages and taking the 
road that led toward the barren deserts beyond the river, 
and you might have wondered what they were going out 
there for. It could not be to work, for this was the year 
of jubilee, when people did not sow their fields, but left 
the land to rest. Perhaps you would have asked some 
man with a long white beard, '' Sir, will you tell me where 
these people are going, and why they go ? " And the 
man would have told you that these people, scribes and 
Pharisees, lawyers and soldiers, poor men and women 
and rich ones, good men and women and bad ones — all 
were going out to hear a strange man preach. His name 
was John ; he was called John the Baptist, because he 
baptized people. He was like the old prophet Elijah, 
who died so many years before. Instead of robes of fine 
linen he wore a garment of coarse cloth made of camel's 
hair, fastened by a girdle of leather. Instead of living in 
a house he lived in caves and among the rocks, and ate 
the locusts and wild honey that travelers In the desert 




JOHN THE BAPTIST. 
" The voice of one crying in the wilderness." 



36 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

often used for food. Instead of going to a church or 
synagogue, where the people were waiting for him, he 
stood out in the open air, where there were no houses, 
and from all about the country the people came to hear 
him. We have heard of this preacher before, when he 
was only a baby boy. He was the son of the good old 
priest Zacharias, one of the persons to whom the news 
of the coming of the Saviour-King was told. His father 
had said he was to be a messenger to prepare the way 
of the Lord, and now that he had grown to manhood he 
began his work, and everybody was astonished at his 
message. 

When the people went to the temple or the synagogue 
to worship they heard the priests read how the Lord 
loved his people, how he had chosen Abraham and 
promised to bless all his children, and they went away 
feeling very proud that they were the children of Abra- 
ham. But this strange preacher said : " Do not think 
you are safe because Abraham is your father ; you must 
repent of your sins and do right, for the Lord is coming 
to set up his kingdom. He is close by, you must repent 
now. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

The people all knew how earthly kings sent messen- 
gers before them to tell their people to prepare the roads 
and take everything out of the way that the king might 
find his kingdom ready. So John said he was just the 
messenger of the great King sent to cry aloud in the 
wilderness, *' Prepare ye the way of the Lord !" 

They were to prepare the way by ceasing to do what- 
ever was wrong. The king would not come into a dark, 
dirty house over a road that was rough and crooked and 
full of deep pits. And the Lord would not come into a 
heart that was full of sin and wrongdoing and hateful 



A STRANGE PREACHER. 37 

thoughts and feelings. So when the people said, " How 
shall we prepare the way? " John said, " Repent ! cease 
to do evil, learn to do well, help the poor, be honest in 
all things, be kind, be true, be contented." 

Then when anyone said, " Yes, I know I have done 
evil, but I will do so no more," he baptized him in the 
river Jordan to show that now the Lord washed away 
his past sins. And he told them that presently, when 
the King himself came, he would fill them with his Holy 
Spirit that would be like a light within them. The poor 
people and the bad people and the soldiers and the tax- 
gatherers all confessed their sins and asked what they 
should do. But by and by some of the proud Sadducees 
and Pharisees came to look on and to listen. They 
did not ask, '' What shall we do to prepare the way for 
the Lord?" They did not think they needed to do 
anything; but John called them vipers, and told them 
they were in as great danger as anyone, and if they 
really wished to escape punishment they must show by 
their lives that they turned away from sin. He told 
them that the Lord was like a gardener who had waited 
long to see if his trees would bear good fruit, but now 
he had his ax ready to cut down those that did not, and 
burn them up ; that he was like a farmer who was ready 
to sift the chaff out of his wheat and burn it up, and he 
bade them repent before it was too late. 

God sends to everyone of us to-day this message that 
he sent by John the Baptist : 

" Prepare the zuay, that the Lord may come and reign 
in your heart." 

" Prepare the way by turning away from wrongdoing 
and learning to do well." 

'' The kingdoj/i of Jieaveii is at hand. God is always 



38 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



ready to come in whenever any heart is ready for 
him." 

" He cuts down the tree that does not bear good fruit ; 
he burns up tiie cliaff that has no grain in it, but he 
saves the good and gathers them up safely." 




THE BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION. 39 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION. 

While John the Baptist was preachhig by the river 
Jordan and bidding the people repent of their sins, that 
they might be ready for the King who was coming, Jesus 
himself was living quietly at Nazareth, and John did not 
even know that he was the one whose coming he was 
every day looking for. But at last the time came for 
Jesus also to begin to preach, and one day, when John 
in his rough garment was baptizing the people, Jesus 
came to him to be baptized. Instantly something in 
John's heart whispered, '' This is he ; the Lamb of God," 
and he bowed his head reverently and said, " I have need 
to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" But 
John was a true servant, and when Jesus bade him bap- 
tize him he obeyed, and He who was to take away the sin 
of the world was consecrated, or set apart, to his holy 
work as the priests in the temple were. 

As Jesus went up out of the water he was praying, talk- 
ing to his Father of the great work which he was to do ; and 
now a beautiful thing came to pass. Long before, when 
John was bidden to go and prepare the way for the Saviour- 
King, God had promised to give him a sign by which he 
should know him. As John looked at Jesus he saw the 
heavens open and a shape like a dove descend and rest 
upon him. This was the sign that God had promised, 
but there was even more than this, for a voice spoke out 
of heaven and said, " TJiis is my beloved Son, in zvJioin I 



40 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



am well pleased^ Probably only John and Jesus heard 
the voice, but that was enough. John was made sure now 
that Jesus was the Lamb of God, and Jesus himself was 
filled with the Spirit, so that the story says he was driven 
away into the wilderness by it as a strong wind drives 
everything before it. There in a lonely, desolate place, 
with the wild beasts for companions, he stayed for forty 
days. We do not know how these days passed, but we 
may guess that he was praying and talking with his Father, 




THE BAPTISM OF JESUS. 

and so full of joy at the work that was before him and 
the voice that had said, "This is my beloved Son," that 
he did not think of eating and drinking. But by and by 
his human body grew faint and hungry, and then the 
devil came to tempt him. Jesus was ready to begin the 
work of saving us, and the first thing he did was to share 
our temptations. 

When we are tempted there is usually something out- 
side of us that persuades us to do a thing, and something 



THE BAPTISM AND TEMPTATION. 4I 

within us that wants to do it. If you were very hungry, 
and some one said, '^ Come and take this bread," your 
hunger would make you wish to take it, and there would 
be nothing wrong in that. But if you knew it was stolen 
bread, or if your father had forbidden you to eat it, your 
hungry stomach would still want it, so you would be 
tempted ; but if you did not take it there would be 
nothing wrong in being tempted. It would only prove 
that you were brave and obedient. All our lives long 
we are tempted. Satan says to us, " Come and do this," 
and something in our hearts wants to do it, but we need 
not )'icld to temptation. How do we know we need 
not ? Because our Lord Jesus Christ was tempted too, 
and he did not yield, and he says he will help everyone 
of us if we will only call on him for help. 

He was tempted so that we might be sure he knew all 
about it and understood our troubles, and knew just how 
hard it sometimes was to be good. Sometimes when you 
are sick, or hurt, or in trouble, and your mother wants to 
help you to be brave and comfort you, she says, " Yes, I 
know just how bad it is ; I have felt just so myself, but try 
to be patient and bear it." Or if you have some very 
bitter medicine to take she tastes it, and says, *' Yes, it 
tastes very badly, but it will do you good." 

So the Bible says of our Lord Jesus that we are to re- 
member that he was tempted in all points just as we are, 
and because he has suffered he is able to help us. You 
and I cannot understand all about this story, but we can 
understand that just the kind of trials that come to us 
came to Jesus. What the devil bids us do is very 
sure to be wrong, no matter what excellent reasons he 
brings, and Jesus showed us by his example that no mat- 
ter in what sore need we are we should wait patiently 



42 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

for God's help, and not try to deliver ourselves by obey- 
ing Satan. We can learn also that we are not to go into 
danger to see if God will deliver us. We are to go when 
he bids us and where he sends us, and then he will give 
his angels charge to keep us safely. 

And we are never to believe that we can accomplish 
any good by working in Satan's ways. He does not say, 
"■ Fall down and worship me and I will give you a king- 
dom," but he tries to show us how much quicker and 
easier we can succeed if we will only try his ways of 
working. How much more good we can do if we will 
only give up in little things, and how impossible it will 
be for us to win in any other way ! He persuades a man 
not to be too stiff" in his principles, the workman to slight 
his work a little, the manufacturer not to be too partic- 
ular about the quality of his stuff, the boy to take a little 
advantage in his games, the student to cheat a little in 
his lessons, and it is all bowing down to Satan in the 
hope of winning something that is not his to give. For 
the kingdoms of this world do not belong to Satan, but 
to the Lord, and our way of escape is the way Jesus took 
— to say boldly, " Get thee behind me, Satan." 

When Jesus said that Satan left him, and the angels 
came and ministered unto him. 




THE FIRST DISCIPLES. 43 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE FIRST DISCIPLES. 

Should you like to know how John, who was Jesus's 
dearest friend, first became acquainted with him? He 
himself tells us. He had heard the preaching of that 
other John, who was the messenger of the vSaviour-King, 
and who told them of the One who was coming to take 
away their sins. Most of the people listened and went 
away, but there were some who stayed with their teacher 
and became his scholars, or disciples,. that they might 
learn more about this One who was coming. One of 
these, disciples was nam.ed Andrew, and another was 
John, this very John who is telling us how he got ac- 
quainted with Jesus. They were standing one day with 
their teacher in the fields talking together about a won- 
derful thing that they had heard the day before. Their 
master had told them how, when Jesus came to him, he 
saw something like a beautiful white dove descending 
from heaven upon him and heard a voice saying, *' This 
is my beloved Son." As they were talking they looked 
up, and there was Jesus himself walking slowly along. 
His face must have been worn and sad, for he had been 
forty days away in the wilderness while Satan tried and 
tempted him, but now he was ready to begin his blessed 
work of -saving his people from their sins. Andrew and 
John looked at him as he passed, and their teacher said : 

" This is he ; this is the one of whom I told you. 
He is the Son of God. He is the one who will take 



44 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

away our sins. Look at him. Behold the Lamb of 
God ! " 

This Lamb of God who could take away sin was the 
very one John and Andrew wanted to find ; so when they 
heard their teacher say this they started to follow Jesus. 
They did not speak to him, but presently Jesus turned 
and saw them following and spoke to them. He said, 
"What seek ye?" and they said, "Master, where do 
you live ? " Jesus said to them, " Come and see ; " and 
they went on with him to the place where he lived. 

Perhaps it was only a tent or a cave among the rocks, 
for Jesus himself said he often had no place to lay his 
head. But wherever it was they stayed with Jesus all 
the rest of the day, and as they talked with him they 
knew that this was really the Saviour for whom they had 
been hoping. 

They were so glad they wanted to go and tell the 
good news to some one else, and they thought first of 
those whom they loved. Andrew thought of his own 
brother Simon, and he went to him and said, " We have 
found Christ ; come quickly and I will take you to him." 
So he brought his brother to Jesus. Perhaps Peter 
expected to find the Christ in the temple or in a palace, 
but when Jesus looked at him and spoke to him he did 
not doubt that this really was the Christ. Jesus did not 
wait for Andrew to introduce his brother. He just 
looked at Simon and called him by his name and told 
him he should have another name by and by. 

The next day Jesus called another man, named Philip, 
to be his disciple, and Philip, when he had talked with 
Jesus, went, full of rejoicing, to call his friend Nathanael. 

Nathanael had been waiting and praying alone in his 
garden, for he too had heard about the Lamb of God 



THE FIRST DISCIPLES. 



45 



that was coming to take away the sins of the world. 
But when PhiHp came and said, " We have found him ; 
he is here; his name is Jesus of Nazareth," Nathanael 
could hardly believe it could be true. 

But when Jesus showed that he knew all about him, 
wdien he told him that he saw him praying under the 
fig tree before Philip called him, Nathanael said, " Mas- 
ter, thou art the Son of God ; thou art the King of 
Israel." 

So day after day the number of the disciples grew, 
because when Jesus said to anyone, " Come, follow me," 
he left everything and came, and each one said to 
others, " Come and see Jesus." 

That is the way we can add to the number of Christ's 
disciples now. He says to everyone of us, " Come, 
follow mc ; be my child ;" and we can obey ourselves 
and invite others to come. It is not only our words that 
may say, Come ; if our lives are gentle and pure, and we 
show that our hearts are full of love and peace, we shall 
all the time be saying, Come ; for w^e shall be walking 
with Jesus. 




46 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE FH^ST MIRACLE. 

Mother. This is a pleasant little story to me because 
it happened so early in the public life of Jesus. It was 
just after he had called his first disciples, and before he 
had really begun to preach. Wicked men had not begun 
to hate him, but he walked about with his friends like 
any common man, so far as they could see, though all 
the time he was really waiting and listening till his Fa- 
ther's voice should say, '' Now the time has come." 
Where was this first miracle done, Henry ? 

Henry. At Cana, in Galilee ; Jesus and his mother 
and his disciples were invited to the wedding. 

Mary. Jesus used to live in Galilee, so perhaps this 
might have been some one whom he used to know ; but 
how came they to invite all his disciples ? 

Mother. Andrew and his brother Simon, John, and 
perhaps his brother James, Philip, and Nathanacl — 
these were all of Galilee ; so they might also have been 
friends of the bride or bridegroom. But these people 
were very anxious to have as many guests as possible at 
a wedding feast, and invited everyone whom they knew. 
If you and I had been there we should probably have 
been invited, and we should have seen long tables spread 
with all kinds of food, while servants passed up and 
down on one side, carrying wine to the guests, who re- 
clined upon couches on the other side of the tables. 
Near the door we should have seen six great jars of 



48 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

water, and, as any one came in, a servant, with a towel 
a.nd basin, would dip some water from the jar and pour 
it over the hands of the guest, lest he had touched 
something unclean on his way. A man called the ruler 
of the feast directed everything. 

Henry. I should think the host would have done that. 

Mother. No, they thought he showed greater honor 
to his guests by giving up his house and his table to 
them, and not taking the chief place. We can imagine 
how Jesus and his disciples came in, after a long walk, 
perhaps, and how the servants would remove their san- 
dals and bathe their feet at the outer court, and then 
water would be poured over their hands, and perhaps 
sweet odors upon their heads, and they would be given 
places among the other guests at the table. But all at 
once some one calls for wine, and the servants say there 
is no more. In that day everybody drank wine, not the 
poisonous stuff that is called wine now, but pure juice 
from grapes. What did they do, Mary ? 

Mary. It doesn't say tliey did anything. Perhaps 
there was no place where they could send and buy more ; 
but the mother of Jesus told him the wine was all gone. 
I suppose she just leaned over and whispered to him. 

James. Do you think he spoke very respectfully to his 
mother ? It sounds rude to me. 

MotJier. But it certainly was not rude, and I have no 
doubt Mary understood just what he meant. She knew 
he could make wine if he chose, and she wanted him 
to show these people his wonderful power. It was just 
as if he said, " O lady, what have I to do with such 
things as that ? My time has not come yet to show my 
power." But Mary felt sure his time was coming, so 
she said to the servants, " Whatsoever he saith unto 



THE FIRST MIRACLE. 49 

you, do it." And then, presently, the time did come. 
The voice that Jesus had been waiting for spoke to him 
and bade him begin to work miracles. How did he make 
the wine, James ? 

James. First he had them fill up the great water jars 
to the brim. I suppose that was so they could all be 
sure^there was no wine in them. Then he bade the 
servants draw out some and carry it to the ruler of the 
feast. It must have been a great deal better than what 
they had before, because he was surprised to think they 
had kept it till the last. He called the bridegroom and 
asked him about it, but the bridegroom does not seem 
to have known where it came from. 

Mary. Do you think the other guests knew about it? 
It only says, '' His disciples believed on him." I should 
think everybody would have believed. 

Mother. They may have believed that this was a man 
who could do a very wonderful thing, but his disciples 
believed that he was Christ, the Son of God. Why do 
you think Jesus wrought this miracle, James ? All our 
Lord's miracles were for some special reason, to help 
those that were sick or hungry or in trouble, but it does 
not seem very important that there should have been 
more wine at the feast. 

James. Perhaps he did it just to please his mother, 
or because these new disciples needed something to 
make them a little more sure about what he could do. 

Jennie. Isn't that just what the story says, " mani- 
fested his glory, and his disciples believed on him ? " 
They knew he was the Lamb of God before, because 
John said so and because they had talked with him and 
they knew he had great wisdom, but now they saw that 
he had power also. I think Jesus did it just for them. 
4 



50 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



Mary, Only think how proud that bride must have 
been to tell people afterward that Jesus was at her wed- 
ding feast and turned water into wine ! 

Mother. We may always have Jesus at our feasts if 
we desire his presence and take care not to have any- 
thing there to offend him. I read of a little girl who 
heard her pastor say in church that the Lord would 
come and be a guest in any home where they welcomed 
him. She remembered that every day her father said, 
'' Be present at our table, Lord," and so that day she 
set a chair for the guest at the table. Just as they were 
sitting down a poor man came to the door and asked for 
food, and the little girl brought him in, saying, joyfully, 
'' See, father, the Lord Jesus could not come himself, so 
he sent this poor man in his place." These are the t\vo 
ways in which we may have Jesus for our guest — by his 
blessed Spirit in our hearts, and in the person of those 
whom we love and help for his sake. 




A TALK WITH JESUS. 5 1 



CHAPTER XI. 

A TALK WITH JESUS. 

When Jesus went about among the people, teaching 
and working miracles, a great many of the teachers 
and rulers came to hear him and see the wonder- 
ful things which he did. Most of them were filled 
with anger and hatred because he told them that they 
were teaching what was not true, and because he said 
that they were all sinners, and needed to confess their 
sins and be forgiven if they wished to enter into God's 
kingdom. But one of these teachers, called Nicodemus, 
really wanted to know the truth. He was sure Jesus 
must be a teacher sent from God, and not a bad man, as 
the Pharisees said he was, because no one could do such 
wonderful things as to heal the sick and give sight to the 
blind unless by God's own power. So one night when 
Jesus and his disciples were resting after the work of 
the day Nicodemus came to talk with Jesus and learn 
from him. 

We do not know where they were, but perhaps it was 
out of doors, in some garden, because Jesus talked about 
the sound of the wind blowing, as if they could feel it 
then upon their faces and hear the leaves of the trees 
moving as it breathed on them. We do not know all the 
questions which Nicodemus asked or all the things which 
Jesus answered, but John has told us some of the talk 
they had. They talked about the way to enter into 
God's kingdom ; that is, to belong to God now as his 



52 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

dear children and by and by go to be with him forever. 
That is the very thing you and I need to know, and there 
is but one way for everybody, so we will listen to what 
Jesus said to Nicodemus about it. He called it ''being 
born again," because it is like being made new, or like 
being made alive when we were dead. He said to Nic- 
odemus, "Ye must be born again." 

Everybody must be made new before he can please 
God. Not a new body, but a new heart that will be 
pure and loving and obedient. We do not know how it 
is that God can do this for us, but he has said he will. 
He says, " A new heart will I give you." When Nicode- 
mus said, " How can these things be? " Jesus said, ** You 
cannot understand how it is; you cannot see God's Spirit 
any more than you can see the wind ; but you can see 
what the wind does, and so you can see in the lives of 
people the work of God's Spirit." 

Nicodemus thought God only loved the Jews, but 
Jesus told him that God loved all the world. He loved 
them so much that he could not leave them in sin and 
darkness. He planned a way to save them, by sending 
his own Son into the world. 

Nicodemus said to Jesus, " We know you are a teacher 
come from God ;" but Jesus said, " I am very much more 
than a teacher. I am the only Son of God ; I was in 
heaven ; God gave me to save the world ; I did not come 
to be a king, I came to be lifted up on the cross so that 
no one who looks to me need perish." 

One thing which Jesus said to Nicodemus tells all 
about the way of salvation — whom God wants to save, 
why he wants to save them, and how it must be done. 
He wants to save everybody, because he loves every- 
body, and so everybody who will believe may be saved. 



A TALK WITH JESUS. 53 

This is what Jesus said : " For God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever be- 
lieveth on him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life." 

I hope Nicodemus believed, and said to Jesus as Na- 
thanael did, "Thou art the Son of God." If he did he 
went home that night with something better than all 
the wisdom he had ever learned before. And though 
the v/isest man cannot explain just what it means to be 
born again by the Spirit of God, even a little child may 
feel and know it who will go to God and say, " For the 
sake of Jesus take away my evil heart and give me a 
new heart to love and serve thee." God says to us that 
he will blot all our sins out of his book, that he will cast 
them away, and not even remember them again, so that 
we may begin all over again, as if we were just made new. 
And then every day and hour he will help and strengthen 
and teach us so that we may be his children. If we are 
God's children we shall live to please him, and the way 
to please him is to be like Jesus Christ. Once a voice 
spoke from heaven and said of Jesus, " This is my be- 
loved Son, in whom I am well pleased." What if a voice 
should speak to you and say, "This is my beloved child, 
with whom I am well pleased?" That is what God 
really does say to his children. He sent an angel to say 
to Daniel, " Thou art greatly -beloved ;" and Jesus him- 
self said to us, "The Father himself loveth you." So 
to-night, when you kneel to ask God to help you love 
him more and serve him better every day, you m^iy think 
that his own voice softly whispers, " Dear child, I love 
you ; I am well pleased with you ; I surely will help you." 



54 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XII. 

JESUS AT THE WELL. 

When our Lord Jesus Christ taught the people he 
did not go into a church or a synagogue and wait until 
they came to hear him. He went about doing good, 
and he was always ready to teach. . Sometimes he 
preached in the city streets, or by the seaside, or on the 
slope of a mountain, with the people sitting around him. 
Sometimes he talked to great crowds that followed and 
pressed about him, and sometimes only to his dear dis- 
ciples, as they walked through the fields or sat resting 
in some quiet place. We read about his talk with Nico- 
demus, the wise ruler who came to him by night, and 
now we are going to hear about another talk that was 
just for one person alone, not a wise, rich, famous man 
whom everybody honored, but a poor woman, who was 
not even a good woman, and whom no Jew would have 
taken the trouble to teach. 

I'll tell you how it was that Jesus met this poor 
woman. He was going with his disciples from Jerusalem 
to another part of the cou-ntry — a long walk, which took 
several days. On the second day they came to a long 
green valley between two mountains, the very green 
valley where Joseph's brothers used to (ced their sheep, 
and where Jacob, their father, once lived. There were 
no little brooks for the sheep and cattle to drink from, 
and so Jacob dug a deep well down through the rock till 
he found a cool spring of water. That gave him and his 



50 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

servants and his cattle plenty of water, and for all the 
years and years since Jacob died the people had gone on 
drawing water from the well. 

It was about noon when Jesus and his disciples came 
to Jacob's well. Jesus was weary and faint with his 
journey, so he sat down by the well to rest while his dis- 
ciples went on to a little village to buy something to eat. 
They would not be likely to leave Jesus all alone, and 
no doubt John, the one he loved best, and who tells us 
this story, stayed with him by the well. They could not 
get any water, for they had nothing to draw it with, but 
presently they saw a woman coming from the village to 
draw water from the well. She had a waterpot, or great 
jar, to fill with water, and probably a pitcher and rope 
to draw it up. She was a Samaritan Avoman, and the 
Jews hated and despised the Samaritans so that they 
would have nothing to do with them. They would not 
take so much as a drink of water from them ; so this 
woman was greatly surprised when Jesus said to her, 
" Give me to drink." She said, '' How is it that thou, 
being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of 
Samaria ? " The woman knew nothing about Jesus, but 
Jesus knew all about her. He knew what she was 
thinking in her heart, he knew all her life, he knew she 
was not trying to be good and live as God had com- 
manded. But he was sorry for her. His heart was full 
of love and pity for all ; and so, though he was faint and 
tired, he began to teach this one poor woman, so that she 
might find the way to God. He told her that if she would 
only ask he would give her something better than the wa- 
ter which she came so far to draw ; he would give her liv- 
ing water, so that she would never be thirsty again. The 
woman wondered, but she did not understand what Jesus 




■JHE WOMAN AT THE WF.LT,. 
Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he," 



58 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

meant. She said, '' Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, 
and the well is deep ; " but Jesus explained to her that 
this living water was the gift of God — his grace, that is 
like a fountain springing up in the heart, making all 
good things live and grow, and giving us all wisdom and 
knowledge, so that we shall know how to please him. 

While the woman still wondered who this could be 
Jesus told her all about her own life and showed her 
that he knew all she had done. Then the woman said : 
" I see you are a prophet ; can you tell me where is the 
right place to worship God ? Ought we to pray here 
upon this mountain, or ought we to go to Jerusalem ? " 

Jesus said : " It makes no difference where you worship 
God, if you truly worship and obey him in your heart. 
No other worship is pleasing to him." 

Then the woman wondered still more, because she 
had never heard that God would hear prayer wherever 
people truly prayed, and she looked at this strange 
teacher, who spoke as if he knew all things, and said : " I 
know that some time Messiah is coming to tell us all 
things." And Jesus said to her, " I that speak unto 
thee am he." 

How do you think the woman looked when she heard 
that? She had not a word to say. She just left her 
waterpot there by the well and hurried away to the city 
where she lived. Can you guess why she went, and what 
she said when she got there? 

She said, ''Come, see a man who told me all things 
that ever I did ; is not this the Christ ? " 

She was just like Andrew and Philip: when she heard 
of Christ she wanted others to hear of him also, and she 
called everyone to come. We shall hear more about 
her. 



SOWING AND REAPING. 59 

CHAPTER XIII. 

SOWING AND REAPING. 

Just before the poor Samaritan woman started to re- 
turn to the city the disciples came back to the well with 
the food they had bought. They saw the woman, and 
they wondered that Jesus should take the trouble to 
speak to her; but they did not ask any questions, and 
presently, when she went away, they brought the food 
to Jesus and begged him to eat. But Jesus answered, 
" I have meat to eat that ye know not of." What did he 
mean by that? The disciples did not understand ; they 
looked at each other and talked together, and perhaps 
they asked John, " Has anyone brought him anything 
to eat ? " Then Jesus explained to them that even 
when he was faint and tired it was better than food to 
him to do God's work and teach people how they 
might find the living water. He said, " My meat is to 
do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work." 
This poor woman whom they despised was one of God's 
children. When a child is very sick the mother watches 
it so anxiously, and is so eager to do something to help 
and relieve it, that she often forgets to eat; and then, 
when the child opens its eyes and shows that it is bet- 
ter, the mother is so happy she forgets that she is tired 
and worn out. Her love makes her forget food and 
rest. That was the way with our Lord Jesus. He went 
about doing good and thinking only how he could save 
people. 

When Jesus said, " My meat is to finish God's work," 



6o HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

the disciples thought in their hearts that it was not 
worth while to spend words of truth upon just one 
woman. They thought it was like sowing good seed where 
it never could grow. But Jesus told them to lift up 
their eyes and look. What did they see? Why, a 
great company of people coming from the city and 
hastening over the plain to the well, all eager to see and 
hear this strange teacher of whom the woman had told 
them. She went through the streets saying to every- 
one whom she met, " Come, see a man who told me all 
things that ever I did ; he is out yonder by Jacob's well." 

Jesus told his disciples that the world was like a har- 
vest field, where the grain was already ripe, and they 
were sent out to gather it in. When people sow wheat 
they expect to wait a long time for it to grow and ripen. 
In that country, when they sowed the seed, they said, 
" In four months the harvest will come." But this good 
seed that Jesus had planted grew up at once and began 
to multiply. A great many of the Samaritans believed 
just because of what the woman told them, and they 
came to Jesus themselves to learn more. They were so 
eager to hear and to have others learn about this blessed 
teacher that they begged Jesus not to go on his journey, 
but to stay and teach them. So Jesus stayed with them 
two days, and many more believed on him, and said to 
the woman, " Now we believe, not because of thy say- 
ing, for we have heard him ourselves, and know that 
this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world." 

I am sure the very happiest. person in all that city was 
the poor woman who brought the news to them, and 
said, " Come and see Jesus." She had sowed good seed, 
too, and it had grown wonderfully ; so she was one of 
God's laborers just the same as the disciples and the 



SOWING AND REAPING. 6l 

prophets and all the good people that ever had lived. 
Some of God's laborers prepare the ground, some sow 
the seed, and some gather it in, but they are all one 
company, and Jesus said by and by they will all meet 
and rejoice together. Children often help to plant the 
fields. I have seen a whole family working together, 
the father plowing the ground, the older children smooth- 
ing and marking it into furrows, aiKl the very little ones 
dropping in the seed. So very little ones have some- 
times dropped good seed into some place which God has 
prepared for it, and our Father himself looks after every 
seed that is planted with prayer and love. A wicked 
man was once converted by reading a Sunday school 
lesson leaf which a little girl threw from the window of 
a railroad train. It fell at his feet as he stood upon the 
platform, and he picked it up and read it, and God sent 
the message home to his heart. 

Every one of you may scatter good seed at home, 
among your own brothers and sisters, and at school 
among your mates ; and every one of you, by being good 
yourself and helping others to be good, may help to 
gather in God's harvest. Just heaf what Jesus said to 
his disciples and to yoii : "lie that reapeth receiveth 
wages." What wages will you have if you work for 
God? What wages do you get when you try to help 
and please your mother? Could anything make you so 
glad as when she says, " Nobody but mother knows how 
many tired steps that little girl saves me," or *' Nobody 
but mother knows what a help she is in making things 
move smoothly and pleasantly and keeping the others 
from trouble and disobedience." 

Just such precious wages God gives you when he says 
to you every night, " Dear child, I have seen how you 



62 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



have tried to please me ; you are sowing good seed in 
your own heart, and in the hearts of others ; you are 
helping to gather fruit for life eternal ; you shall have 
blessed wages every day, and by and by all my workmen 
will come home and rejoice together." 




THE nobleman's SON. 63 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THE nobleman's SON. 

When Jesus had stayed two days with the people at 
Samaria he went on his journey to GaHlee. He did 
not go to his own town of Nazareth, but to Cana, the 
place where he turned the water into wine at the wedding 
feast. Nathanael hved there, and a good many of the 
friends of Jesus and all the people were glad to have him 
come, for they had been to Jerusalem and seen the won- 
derful things which he had done there. About twenty-five 
miles from Cana was a beautiful blue lake or little sea, 
called the Sea of Galilee. All along its shores were little 
towns with white houses, pleasant fields, and green hills. 
Every day the fishermen went out in their' little boats to 
catch fish from the sea, and Jesus himself often walked 
along the shores or sailed across to the other side. In 
one of these towns, called Capernaum, lived a noble- 
man who was one of the emperor's officers. He had 
servants and money and was a great man, but now there 
was sorrow and trouble in his home. The nobleman's 
son was very sick with a fever. No one could help him, 
and day after day he grew worse, until they saw that he 
must die. One day some one came to the father and said : 
'' Do you know that Jesus, the prophet who made wine 
from water at Cana, and who healed so many sick people 
in Judea, has come back to Cana? They say he cures 
even leprosy and the most dreadful diseases just by lay- 
ing his hand upon the sick and bidding them arise." 



THE nobleman's SON. 65 

The father said : " I will go at once and bring him 
down here to cure my son if he does not die before I 
can get him." 

So he left the sick child burning and tossing with 
fever and hastened to Cana to ask where he could find 
Jesus. Some one showed him where Jesus was, and he 
begged him to come with him to Capernaum and heal 
his child. Jesus pitied all Avho were in trouble, and he 
pitied this father's sorrow, but he wanted him to under- 
stand that he need not go to Capernaum to cure his 
boy ; he could do it by just speaking the word. He 
said to the father, " Except ye see signs and wonders, ye 
will not believe ; " as if he had said, " Can you not believe 
on me without seeing me do this?" But the poor 
father could not think of anything but his, boy. He 
said again, " Sir, come down quickly before my child 
die ! " Even then it might be too late, for he had left 
him at the very point of death. Then Jesus said, '' Go thy 
way; thy son liveth." Would the father believe with- 
out seeing? Would he go home quietly and leave 
Jesus behind ? Yes ; in his heart that minute he believed 
the word that Jesus had spoken, and he went on his way. 
But how long the journey was, and how impatient he 
folt to see with his own eyes that his son was healed ! 

Presently he sees some people coming to meet him. 
As they come nearer he sees they are his own servants. 
Are they bringing word that the child is dead ? O no ; 
they say just as Jesus did, " Thy son liveth ; yesterday, 
at the seventh hour, the fever left him." 

Yesterday, at the seventh hour! That was the very 
hour when Jesus spoke the word ; so the father and all 
the family believed on Jesus. 

How eager they must have been to see Jesus ! I do 
5 



66 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

not think they waited for Jesus to come, but went to 
look in his face and thank him for his loving power. 

Does Jesus heal the sick now? Can we go to him 
when our friends are sick and beg him to come and cure 
them? Certainly we may, and he hears us just as surely 
as he heard the nobleman when he came to him at 
Cana. God alone can cure sickness, and whether he 
makes sick people well in an instant, or lets them come 
slowly back again to health, it is always he who heals. 

Sometimes it is not best for us to be cured at once. 
Pain and suffering teach us many lessons ; they teach us 
to be sorry for others who suffer; they teach us ' to 
be patient, and they teach us to be careful not to do 
things that make us sick. God wants us to take care of 
our bodies, and sickness makes us remember what we 
sometimes forget. Sometimes when we ask him very 
earnestly to cure those whom we love he does not do it, 
because he sees that this is not the best for us or for them. 
We cannot understand all about these things now, but 
we can be sure that whatever he does is the very best 
thing, and some day he will tell us all about it. 

So when we are sick ourselves, or when our friends 
are sick, we will go to our loving Father and ask him to 
heal them, to show us what to do for them, to bless 
whatever we do, and, above all things, to help us to take 
patiently and lovingly whatever he thinks best. Some- 
times God makes sick people well by giving them new 
bodies. Just as your mother might say of your dress, 
*' It is so torn and worn out it is not worth mending; I 
will get you a new one," so our Father says about our 
sick bodies, " They are worn out and full of pain ; you 
shall come and live with me and have a new body that 
will never be sick." 



JESUS P'ORGIVING SIN. 6/ 



CHAPTER XV. 

JESUS FORGIVING SIN. 

Palestine, where our Lord lived, was a very small 
country, and, though they had no railroads or telegraphs 
or newspapers, the people at Jerusalem soon learned of 
any important thing that took place in other parts from 
travelers who came to the city on business or to attend 
the great feasts at the temple. 

So the scribes and the Pharisees, who had been so much 
disturbed by the teaching and the miracles of Jesus in 
Judea, learned that he was preaching in Capernaum to 
crowds who followed him wherever he went, and doing 
even more wonderful miracles than he had done in Jerusa- 
lem. A number of them went to Capernaum, some from 
Jerusalem and other cities of Judea, and some from the 
towns of Galilee nearer by, to watch, and to listen, and 
see what could be done with this strange teacher. Jesus 
was in Peter's house, teaching the people who had 
gathered about him, and these Pharisees and wise men, 
who thought they knew all about the way to be right 
eous and serve God, sat by to hear what he would say 
The power of the Lord was with him, and he not only 
taught the people, but healed the sick among them. 
Every moment the crowd grew. They filled the room 
and the doorway, and even about the door, pressing 
upon each other closer and closer, until there was no 
room for another one. Presently four men came down 
the street bringing between them a man that was palsied 




AND HE LAID HIS HANDS ON THEM AND HEALED THEl\L 



JESUS FORGIVING SIN. \ 69 

and helpless. Would not the multitude take pity on 
this poor, helpless, suffering man, and let them bring him 
to Jesus. No ; the multitude would not give way ; every- 
one thought only of himself and of what he wanted. 
But the friends of this palsied man were not discouraged. 

They felt sure if they could only bring him into the 
presence of Jesus he would be cured, and they were de- 
termined to get him there. They carried their burden 
up some outside stairs leading to the housetop, and, 
making an opening in the flat roof, they lowered the sick 
man into the midst of the people, right before Jesus. 

Jesus stopped in his discourse and looked at them, 
the sick man lying helpless before him and his friends 
looking eagerly down from above. 

He saw tJieir fait Jl. He could see it in their faces and 
in their hearts, that w^ere open to his sight, but he could 
also see it in their actions. We do not take so much 
trouble to get anything unless we believe it is of great 
value and unless we really expect to get it. They be- 
lieved Jesus had power to heal and that he would heal. 

But when he spoke he said nothing about the palsy. 
He saw in the sick man a worse disease, and one that 
only God could cure ; he saw that he was sinful and re- 
pentant, and he said to him, " Son, thy sins are forgiven 
thee," 

I think after that the man would have been satisfied 
even if his body had not been healed, for there is no 
suffering like the suffering from sin. A skillful physician 
was once attending a sick man and saw that for some 
reason his medicines did not have any effect. At last 
he said to the patient, '' You have something on your 
mind which worries you ; tell me what it is, or I cannot 
help you." 



70 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

The man finally owned that he had committed a crime 
the thought of which would not let him rest. The phy- 
sician could not say, as Jesus did," Thy sins are forgiven 
thee," and so take away at once the shame and distress 
and sense of guilt, but he sent for the man who had 
been wronged, and when the sick man had confessed his 
deed and been forgiven he found peace with God. 

" Now," said the physician, " I can cure your 
body." 

" Ah," said the patient, " I had forgotten I was 
sick." 

When the scribes and Pharisees heard Jesus say, 
" Thy sins are forgiven thee," they were displeased. 
They knew no 77ian could forgive sins, and they thought 
in their hearts, " This is blasphemy ; who can forgive sins 
but God alone ?" 

Jesus answered their thoughts as if they had spoken 
them aloud : " You think it is easier to snj/, ' Thy sins 
are forgiven thee,' than to say, ' Rise up and walk,' be- 
cause everyone can see whether the command to walk is 
obeyed. But that you may know that I really have 
power to forgive sins I will use that power in another 
way." 

Then he bade the palsied man arise and take up his 
couch and go to his house, and immediately he rose 
up, took up what he was lying on, and went away glori- 
fying God. Soul and body both were healed, and his 
lips were filled with praise, for he knew, if the Pharisees 
did not, that this was the work of God. I think the 
friends who had brought him were almost as glad as he ; 
indeed, all the people praised God also, and were filled 
with fear and astonishment, for no such thing had ever 
been seen or heard before. A physician who healed the 



JESUS FORGIVING SIN. 



71 



body by his word was wonderful, but here was one who 
healed the soul, who had power on earth to forgive sins. 
Who was he ? What must he be, since none can forgive 
sins but God alone ? He said he was the Son of God ; 
was it not true ? 




72 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

JESUS AT N .V Z A R E T H . 

It was more than a year since Jesus had entered upon 
his public work by his baptism in the river Jordan and 
his victory over Satan. He had been with his disciples 
to Jerusalem and many cities of Judea and Galilee, 
teaching the people, healing the sick, and doing many 
miracles, and now, at last, he came back to his own home 
at Nazareth, where he had grown up. His neighbors 
and acquaintances would be likely to hear of his coming 
and to talk about it among themselves. One man might 
say, " Have you heard that Jesus, the son of Joseph, has 
come home? They say he does not work any more, but 
claims to be a great prophet, and goes about teaching 
the people as if he were wiser than the scribes and Phar- 
isees." 

And his neighbor might answer, " I have heard that 
he really has done some wonderful things. They say 
that at Cana he turned water into wine ; a man who was 
at Jerusalem at the feast of the passover saw him heal, 
by his word, one who had been helpless for almost forty 
years, and over yonder at Capernaum he has cast out 
devils and healed multitudes of sick folk." 

The first man would, perhaps, shake his head and 
answer, " Do }-ou think the son of a poor carpenter, who 
has grown up here among us and never been taught in 
the schools, can be any wiser than other people ? But 
they will ask him to read from the law^ in the synagogue 




I ^^ 



IN THE SYNAGOGUE AT NAZARETH. 
" As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 



74 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

to-morrow, and we will go and hear what he has to say. 
I should like to see him do some of his miracles. There 
are plenty of lame and blind and sick folks here." 

When the Sabbath came the people filled the syna- 
gogue, sitting around on the floor, as their custom was, 
and Jesus went up into the little desk where they could 
all see him. Every synagogue had a copy of the law of 
God written on parchment and rolled up, which was kept 
with great care. They handed this roll to Jesus, and he 
found the place, and read aloud to them. The words 
were some that Isaiah had written years before, when 
God had shown him the Saviour and told him what he 
would do and say. Jesus read : " The Spirit of the Lord 
is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the 
gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken- 
hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and re- 
covering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that 
are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." 
He closed the book, gave it back to the minister, and 
sat down, while the eyes of all the people were fastened 
on him. They had heard those words a great many 
times, and they knew very well that Isaiah was talking 
about the Saviour they were expecting ; that it was he 
who was to be filled with the Spirit, that he might open 
the eyes of the blind, deliver the captives, and heal the 
broken-hearted. What was this man who claimed to be 
a prophet going to tell them about the Saviour? He 
said, " This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." 
That was the same as saying, " This Saviour whom 
Isaiah wrote of has come. He is here before you. I 
am he." And then he went on to explain and to teach, 
while they all wondered at his wise and gracious words. 

But they were not ready to believe what he said, or 



a, a 

I ^ 

IS 

3 H 




76 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

to forsake their sins. Tiiey talked among themselves 
and said, "How can this man save us? Is not this 
Joseph's son? If he wants us to believe on him why 
does he not do some of the wonderful things he did in 
Capernaum?" Jesus heard their whisperings and fault- 
finding; but he would not use his divine power just to 
win their praise and make them wonder at him. He 
knew they would not receive him, and he reminded 
them that it had often been so with prophets, and that 
even the old prophets of whom they were so proud, had 
done their greatest miracles for people of other nations. 

The people in the synagogue had not come to be 
shown their sins, they wanted to see a m.iracle ; and 
v;hen Jesus talked in this way to them they rose up 
full of anger, and, seizing Jesus, bore him along toward 
the hill on which the town was built, that they might 
cast him down headlong. But Jesus was not yet 
ready to lay down his life, and no man could take it 
from him. He passed quietly through the midst of the 
angry crowd and went his way to another city. 

The people of Nazareth were too proud to receive God's 
message, because it did not come in a way to please 
them. Jesus came ''to preach the Gospel to the poor," 
but they thought they were rich ; '' to heal the broken- 
hearted," but they did not think they had any sins to 
mourn over; to "preach deliverance to the captives," 
but they did not understand that they were Satan's 
slaves; ''to open the eyes of the blind," but they 
thought only of blindness of bodily eyes. After Jesus 
went away very likely they said, " How wise we were ! 
Those people at Capernaum may believe on him, but we 
know better. We will have nothing to do with him." 

" He came unto his own, and his own received him not." 



THE WIDOW OF NAIN. ^'] 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE WJDOW OF NAIN. 

About twenty-five miles from Capernaum, on the slope 
of a mountain, was a little city called Nain. The name 
means " lovely," and in the time of our Lord it probably 
was a beautiful town, with pleasant gardens shut in by 
its high walls, and vineyards and olive trees on the slopes 
outside. The only way for travelers to reach it was by 
a steep road leading up the mountain to the gate, and 
it is not likely that many people except the inhabitants 
of the city went in and out. But walls and gates can- 
not keep away sickness and death, and they found their 
way into this little city of Nain. From time to time sor- 
row had come to its homes and some loved one had 
been carried out through the city gate to be laid away 
in the tombs that were cut among the rocky caves out- 
side. 

Sickness came one day to a home in Nain. Death 
had been there before ; the husband and father had 
died, and the mother was left with but one child, a son 
who could comfort her and care for her, and now he too 
was sick unto death. Everyone pitied her and thought 
it was very hard for this young man to be taken away 
from his mother, but in that day they could do very lit- 
tle for sickness. 

Yet to this city must have come the fame of a prophet 
who was going about through the towns and villages 
healing all kinds of diseases, opening the eyes of the 



78" HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

blind, and casting out evil spirits. Some of the people 
of Nain may have seen these wonderful cures, and the 
poor mother watching by her sick boy may have lifted 
her heart in prayer to God that he would send this great 
liealer before it was too late. If she did God certainly 
heard her prayer, though he did not seem to answer it ; 
the healer did not come, and her son died. They pre- 
pared the body for burial, wrapping it in a linen cloth 
and laying it upon a bier, and men carried it out through 
the gate of Nain, the broken-hearted mother weeping 
beside it, and many people from the city following with 
her. 

But when they got a little way from the gate they met 
another procession coming up the road. Jesus, the great 
healer, was coming to Nain with his disciples and a great 
multitude. This was the man who could send away 
disease by his word and heal the sick instantly by a 
touch. The sight of him must have added to the poor 
mother's distress. O, why had he not come sooner, that 
he might have cured her son ? Only one day sooner, 
instead of waiting at Capernaum ! But now it was too 
late. 

Jesus, who saw the faith In the heart of the palsied 
man, saw her faith also. She believed he could heal, 
but she had never dreamed of a power that could raise 
the dead. Yet what did it mean that he bade her '' weep 
not ?" Could there even now be any help ? The voice, 
so full of tenderness and compassion, seemed full of au- 
thority also, and as Jesus turned from the mother and 
touched the bier with his hand the bearers stood still and 
all the multitude waited In silence. Is he going to com 
fort this mourner by explaining to her that some day 
God will raise the dead, and she will have her son again ? 



THE WIDOW OF NAIN. 79 

No, he does not speak to the mother. He speaks to 
the young man lying dead upon the bier, and this is his 
command : 

''Young man, I say tint thee, Arise.'' 

If there were any scribes and Pharisees in that pro- 
cession they had no time even to say in their hearts, 
'• Who is this that speaketh blasphemies ? " for this voice 
reached the deaf ears of the young man, and he was no 
longer dead. The command was instantly obeyed ; he 
that was dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave 
him to his mother. 

Just think of that procession that had come so sorrow- 
fully out at the gate, the friends weeping, the hired 
mourners wailing, the poor mother in her tears and de- 
spair, now going joyfully back again with the multitude 
that had come from Capernaum, mother and son prais- 
ing God and the people looking on in fear and wonder 
even while they glorified God for coming to help his 
people. 

Why did not Jesus speak the word and call from the 
sepulchers near by all the dead ? And why did he not 
go into Nain and heal all the sick there .^ His work was 
to bring liealing that should help all the world, in all 
ages, and he raised the dead and wrought all liis mira- 
cles only that men should have no excuse for doubting 
his authority or refusing to obey his voice. As a king 
who had gone to some part of his dominion in disguise, 
that he might better learn to know his people, might 
think best to show his signet ring in proof of his rank 
and authority, so Jesus showed his authority over dis- 
ease, evil spirits, and death, that men might know that 
he had power to forgive sins also. 



8o HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

A MESSAGE FROM JOHN THE BAPTIST. 

The last time we heard anything about John the 
Baptist he was Hving in the desert regions beyond the 
river Jordan and preaching to great crowds of people 
who came out there to hear him. You remember how 
he was dressed in his rough, coarse garment v/oven 
of camel's hair and fastened with a girdle of leather, and 
how to everyone who came he had but one message, 
" Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." No 
matter whether he was talking to the poor despised pub- 
lican or to Herod the ruler, he told everybody tliere was 
but one Avay to enter God's kingdom, and that was to 
turn away from sin, and that if they did not leave off 
sinning and learn to do right God would destroy them 
as the gardener cuts down and burns up trees that 
do not bear fruit. Herod did not like this kind of 
preaching ; he was angry because John told him of his 
sins, and instead of repenting he sent his soldiers to take 
John and shut him up in prison. 

Very soon after the Lord Jesus came to John to be 
baptized Herod shut John up in his prison beyond Jor- 
dan. He could not get out, but his disciples came often 
to see him and told him what Jesus was doing. John 
would never forget that day when he saw the Spirit like 
a dove descending upon Jesus and heard the voice from 
heaven saying, '' This is my beloved Son." He thought 
about it in his lonesome prison, and he felt very sure that 



82 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

pretty soon this Son of God who had come into the 
world would leave his humble, lowly life, and make him- 
self King. Pie waited and waited, and when his disci- 
ples came he would ask, '' What is he doing now ? " 
They would tell liim about his teaching and his wonder- 
ful miracles, but still he did not seem to be any nearer 
making himself King. So, month after month, John 
stayed in prison until he had been there a year and a 
half, and he was very much perplexed. At last John 
said, ''I'll send and ask Jesus about it; he will tell us 
what it means and whether we have made any mistake." 

So he sent two of his disciples into Galilee, where 
Jesus was. They found him at his work among the peo- 
ple who crowded about him. By and by they found a 
chance to ask their question, " Art thou he that should ' 
come, or do we look for another? " 

Jesus did not say '' yes " to their question. He had 
told people, '' By their fruits ye shall know them," and 
so he bade them go home and tell John what they had 
seen and heard. A great many years before that one of 
God's prophets had said that Avhen the Saviour came 
into the world he would do just what Jesus did. He 
would give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf; 
the lepers should be cleansed and the lame made to 
walk ; the dead should be raised, and the poor who had 
no one to care for them sliould hear the good news of 
God's great love. John's disciples saw Jesus do these 
wonderful things, and heard his blessed words, and then 
Jesus sent them away to tell John, and bid him be patient 
and trust, even if he could not understand God's way. 

In the multitude about Jesus were many who had 
gone out to hear John preach, and now they were think- 
ing to them.selves, '* This man could not have been a 



A MESSAGE FROM JOHN THE BAPTIST. 



83 



great prophet after all, or he would not have sent such a 
message. He said Jesus was the Saviour, but now he 
has changed his mind. He was very bold and fearless, 
but now that he is shut up in prison, and half starved, 
he is discouraged and afraid." 

Jesus knew their thoughts even if they did not speak 
them, and he began to talk to them about John. He 
asked them if they thouglit this man was like a reed 
that was bent by every wind, that he could be turned 
out of the way or changed by the fear of Herod. He 
asked them if they thought he cared so much for soft 
clothing and dainty food that he would give up the truth 
because of the prison or even death. And then he told 
them that John was not only a true prophet, but greater 
than any other prophet, because he was the messenger 
sent to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. The other 
prophets could only say, *' Some time he is coming," but 
John could say, " He is herc^ He could point to him 
and say, '* Behold the Lamb of God.'' 

That very message which made John the greatest 
among men we may every one of us carry to others. 
Jesus said of Jolm, " He was a burning and a shining 
light ; " and so he says of all his children, *' Ye are the 
light of the world." 




84 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

JESUS AT BETHESDA. 

It was a beautiful Sabbath day in Jerusalem. Great 
crowds of people were in the city who had come from 
other parts of the country to w^orship at the temple. 
They walked along the streets talking together, but 
there was no noise, no one buying or selling or carrying 
any burdens, because it was the Sabbath day, and the 
people might not even light fires to cook their food. It 
was not yet time for the service at the temple, and per- 
haps some company of strangers said, *' Let us go to the 
pool of Bethesda and watch to see when the water moves." 

This pool of Bethesda was a fountain of water near 
one of the city gates. Once in a while the water bub- 
bled up as if it were boiling, and the people thought 
that if a sick person were put into the water at the very 
instant, before anyone else got in, he would be cured. 
So there were always a great many sick people lying 
there by the pool, each one eager to be the first to get 
in. When the strangers passed by they would see them 
lying there on little rugs such as were used for beds in 
that country. Some of the sick people had friends to 
to take care of them and help them, but one poor man 
lay all alone on, his bed. He could not move his limbs 
at all; he was probably like a man whom a missionary 
saw once in Syria who could only use his arms, and who 
lay all day on a rug by the roadside begging, and at 
night dragged himself away by sticking two little sticks 



JESUS AT BETHESDA. 85 

into the ground and slowly pulling his body along. I 
am sure the man had a sorrowful face, for he had been 
helpless for thirty-eight years, and though he had in 
some way been brought to the pool of Bethesda he had 
no one to put him into the water, and had just about 
given up trying. But on this Sabbath morning, while so 
many were passing by, one among the crowd stopped 
and pitied him, and asked a strange question. He asked, 
'' Wilt thou be made whole ? " The poor man looked 
up in wonder and answered, *' Sir, I have no man when 
the water is troubled to put me into the pool." 

The stranger did not say, " I will put you into the 
pool." He said, *' Rise, take thy bed, and walk." What 
a wonderful command to a man who had lain helpless 
for so many years ! But the instant the words were 
spoken the man was made perfectly well. He got up 
and rolled up his rug and walked ; but this strange friend 
had slipped away in the crowd and was gone before he 
could thank him or ask his name. One thing he was 
sure of, he knew that only God could so wonderfully 
make him well, and he wanted to thank him for it. Be- 
fore his trouble came upon him he had not been a good 
man, but now he was sorry for his sin, so he went up to 
the temple to pray, and there he found the one who had 
said to him, " Rise up and walk," We know very well 
who this stranger was who could heal all kinds of sick- 
ness, make the blind to see and the lame to walk. It 
was Jesus the Saviour of men. The man's heart must 
have been full of gratitude, and he would say to himself 
as he went to the temple, " How good it seems to walk 
once more and feel my body strong and well ! How 
good it is to go once more into God's house ! What 
can I do to show how thankful and glad I am ? " Jesus 



86 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



saw him there in the temple and came to him and told 
him just how he could best show his thankfulness. Je- 
sus said to him, " Behold, thou art made whole ; sin no 
more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." 

That is the way to show that we are truly thankful for 
God's goodness when he raises us up from sickness or 
keeps us in health — by being careful not to sin against 
him ; by loving him more and serving him better. 

Is it not strange to think that there were some peo- 
ple in Jerusalem who were not glad to have this poor 
man cured? Some of the Jews said to him, "It is the 
Sabbath ; you must not carry your bed." The man an- 
swered them that Jesus, the man that made him whole, 
had bidden him do it ; but that only made them hate 
Jesus the more and even seek to kill him for doing such 
blessed work on the Sabbath day. They did not really 
care about the Sabbath, but they hated Jesus because he 
did wonderful things which they could not do, and be= 
cause he said God was his Father. 







THE SABBATH DAY. 8/ 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE SABBATH DAY. 

A WISE and loving father once spent long years in 
preparing a beautiful home for his children, and when 
all was ready for them he placed them there to live for a 
time. They were not to be idle, but to work, and a 
great deal was left for them to do. Their father knew 
that idleness was not good for them, but he did not wish 
them to become so interested in this work as not to take 
the rest they needed, or so absorbed in thinking and 
planning for it that they should forget him, stay away 
from his house, and grow to be like strangers to him. 
He loved his children, and he wanted them to love him 
and come to him freely ^or counsel ; but because he knew 
they would not be wise enough to decide for themselves 
about such things he gave them a rule for work and 
rest. He told them to be diligent and industrious in at- 
tending to their work, but that when they had worked 
for six days they must stop and take a day of rest. They 
were to call this rest day ** their father's day," because it 
was not only that their bodies might be refreshed and 
strengthened, but because on that day all who could 
were to go and see their father and talk with him at his 
own house. They were to think about him, to send lov- 
ing messages to him, to see if they could not do some 
special thing to please him, and to talk with each other 
about his wishes. 

This rest day, this ''father's day," was meant to be a 



88 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

helpful, happy day, that might continually remind the 
children of their father's love and care and help them 
to grow more like him and understand his wishes better. 

But after a while these foolish children forgot that the 
day was for love and counsel and thanks, and only re- 
membered it was for rest. They were very careful to 
stop all their work ; they even made hundreds of very 
silly rules about the little things that must not be done 
on the rest day; but it was not the father's day any 
more, as he had meant it to be. 

This was the way the Lord gave the Sabbath day to 
his children, and in this way the people had come to 
make it a day without any meaning at all. And just as 
this father might have sent his beloved son who had 
never been separated from him, and understood his 
thoughts and wishes, to teach these foolish children, so 
our Father in heaven sent Jesus Christ to show what this 
rest day was really meant to be, and to say to them, 
" This is your Father's day, but^ it was meant for your 
help ; it was made for you." 

He taught by his example. He always kept holy the 
Sabbath day, but he did many things which the teach- 
ers of the Jews had forbidden. He taught that it was 
right to feed the hungry on the Sabbath, and to relieve 
those who were sick and suffering. He taught in the 
synagogues on the Sabbath, but he also taught in houses 
on that day, speaking to those that gathered about the 
door. 

He went to worship with the congregation, but he 
stopped his teaching to heal a poor sufferer who did not 
even ask for help, a woman who for eighteen years had 
been bowed together so tiiat she could not lift herself 
up. She did not speak, but Jesus saw her; he called 




HEALING THE WOMAN. 



90 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

her to him ; he told her she was loosed from her infirm- 
ity ; he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she 
was made straight, and broke out in praise and thanks- 
giving to God. 

No doubt there was commotion among the people, 
for they glorified God and rejoiced, and when the ruler 
of the synagogue, who was really angry with Jesus, 
rebuked them for coming to be healed on the Sabbath 
the Lord rebuked him. He told him he was not honest, 
since those who forbade the healing of disease on the 
Sabbath would themselves do what they called necessary 
work, such as taking care of their cattle. Men and 
women are of more value than cattle, and whatever we 
can do to relieve their souls or their bodies from that 
which bows them down we may do on the Sabbath. 
" It is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day." 

How shall we tell what is really doing good? 

By observing whether or not it leads people to glorify 
God. 

What we do on the Sabbath should be more than 
harmless ; it must be helpful ; it must help us to under- 
stand God better; bring us into sympathy with him; 
give new strength to the soul as well as the body ; lift 
us up that we may glorify God. 

What we do for others should have the same result. 
Satan binds bodies as well as souls ; poverty, disease, 
sufferincr, io-norance, are all more or less his chains. It 
is lawful to loose them on the Sabbath day, and in this 
way we make the Sabbath truly " the Lord's day," and 
share with our Father the work from which he never 
rests. 



FOLLOWING JESUS. 9I 



CHAPTER XXI. 

FO L LOWING J ESU S. 

Wherever Jesus went along the roads from village 
to village there was always a multitude following him, 
listening to hear what he said and watching to see what 
he would do. A great many persons followed him 
because they hoped he was going to make himself their 
king and lead them against the Romans who had con- 
quered them. Even the disciples had some such idea as 
this, and one day when they were on a journey Jesus 
began to talk to the disciples who were close about him, 
to try to make them understand that he had not come 
to be an earthly king. 

He asked them first what people said about him, and 
they told him that some said he was Elijah, and some 
John the Baptist, and some one of the prophets. Then 
he asked, " But whom say ye that I am ? " and Peter 
answered, '' Thou art the Christ." Peter was very sure 
who Jesus was ; he knew he was the Son of the living 
God, sent to save the people from their sins, but he did 
not understand at all how he was to do this. So when 
Jesus began to tell the disciples that he was going to die 
for the sins of the world, that he must suffer many things, 
that the scribes and the elders would refuse to believe 
him and reject him, and that he should be killed, but 
that the third day he should rise again, they were all as- 
tonished, and Peter began to rebuke him. He said, '' Be 
it far from thee, Lord ; this shall not be unto thee." 



92 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

Peter was very bold and brave, and he thought he would 
die himself rather than let any harm come to his Lord ; 
but Jesus rebuked him for thinking that he was wiser 
than his Master. And then he began to explain to his 
disciples and to all the people what kind of a spirit those 
must have who truly followed him. 

They must not think that the best thing was to be 
great and rich and powerful in this world, and so choose 
that; but they must understand that the best thing was 
to serve and please God and help him in saving the 
world. Jesus came to seek and to save lost men ; and 
to do it he willingly laid aside all the glory that he had 
in heaven, and suffered and died, bearing shame and 
contempt and hatred, all for the sake of saving others. 

Do we want to be his followers ? Then we, like him, 
must think, not of ourselves, but of others. Jesus said, 
'' Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself." 

To come after Jesus is to be his follower and go 
wherever he leads. If we do this he will be our Captain, 
and give us our orders, just as the captain directs the 
soldiers who follow him when to march and when to 
stop, and whether to turn to the right hand or the left. 
It would not do at all to have two captains, one saying 
'' Halt ! " when the other said " March ! " The soldiers 
v/ould never conquer the enemy, and would only lose 
their own lives. And so Jesus says if we take him for 
our Captain we must not have any other. We must not 
listen to the orders of that other captain called Self, who 
says, "Stay here and rest," when Jesus says, "Follow 
me." We must turn him out, send him away, denj/ Jiim, 
say we will not obey or listen to him. 

'* Take up his cross." When we have turned away 
from self and chosen Jesus for our Captain, we must take 



FOLLOWING JESUS. 93 

up cheerfully anything he gives us to do, and bear bur- 
dens for others as he did for us. Sometimes it may be 
something that we dislike very much; sometimes it is a 
great, hard thing, and sometimes it is only little things 
that have to be done over and over, day after day ; but 
we are to go on doing them bravely and cheerfully and 
lovingly for his sake, just as he bore his cross for ours. 
To take up your cross is to be willing to do whatever God 
wants you to do, whether it is hard or easy, and to follow 
on in this way day after day and year after year. 

"And follow me." For when you have chosen Jesus 
for your Captain, and turned away from self and taken 
up the burdens he gives you to bear, then you are to 
follow your leader. He will never send you on alone. 
He will always go before you, so you can hear his voice. 
You can speak to him, and he will speak to you, and he 
will always give you strength and health and comfort. 

It is the happiest way to live. Those who serve self, 
and think only how they can please themselves, fail in 
the very things they strive after. They are not really 
happy here, and by and by, when they come to the end 
of life, they find that they have wasted and lost the time 
in which they might have been preparing themselves for 
a more glorious world. They have lost this life, and so 
lost the precious chance God gave them to fit themselves 
to live with him. And Jesus will have to say, " These 
are not mine; I do not know them. They have not 
been following me. I called them, but they wo'uld not 
listen; they chose to please themselves." If we would 
have Jesus own us by and by, and say before the angels 
in heaven, " These are mine, my precious ones," we must 
choose him now for our leader and follow him all the way. 



94 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

ONE DAY WITH JESUS. 

Do you know that the Bible only tells us a very few 
of the things that Jesus did ? If Peter and John and 
Philip had written the story of ever}/ day we should have 
books and books filled with stories of where Jesus went 
with his disciples and what Jesus said and did. Here 
is the story of just one day that John has written down 
for us, and if we try we can see it all as plainly as if we 
had been there ourselves. 

P'irst, let us think about the place. Here we are in 
the little town of Capernaum, the place where the noble- 
man lived whose son was so sick. You can see the very 
house over yonder, with a great garden full of palm trees 
around it. All around you are green hills, and right be- 
fore you the same blue Sea of Galilee where Peter and 
Andrew used to go fishing. 

See, there are some little boats going out now, and 
there comes Jesus with his disciples, going down to the 
shore. Jesus is tired ; everywhere the sick people follow 
him and crowd about him, and he cannot rest. He is 
going away now across the sea to a place near the shore 
where there is a smooth, grassy hillside. It is a bright, 
sunny morning, and they soon reach the other side, fas- 
ten the little boat, and go up the hillside, where Jesus 
sits down with his disciples about him. Will he have a 
long, quiet day to rest ? No ; for even when he started 
the people were watching him, and they followed along 




JESUS TEACHING THE FISHERMEN. 



96 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

the shore, until presently, when Jesus looked up, he saw 
a great company coming to him, men and women and 
children. They had come a long way, and there they 
were, away on the side of the mountain, poor, tired, 
hungry people that had seen the miracles that Jesus did, 
or at least heard of them. 

The dear Lord was filled with pity as he looked at 
them and knew how sinful and sorrowful they were, and 
how much they needed to be taught and helped to be 
good. He said they were like sheep without any shep- 
herd, hungry and lost, and so he taught them, and talked 
to them, and tried to show them how to serve God. 
Probably he cured some of the sick among them, and 
at last he said to Philip, '' Where shall we buy bread, 
that these may eat ? " 

Philip and the other disciples were surprised at this 
question. There was no place to buy out there in the 
desert, and they were only poor men themselves, with 
very little money. Philip said, '^ Why, if we should buy 
two hundred pennyworth of bread it would not be 
enough to give each one a little piece." Then, perhaps, 
Jesus turned to Andrew to see what he would say. 
Andrew said, " There is a lad here who hath five barley 
loaves and two small fishes ; but what are they among 
so many ? " 

Now Jesus knew just what he would do all the time ; 
and I am sure it v/ould have made him glad if Philip or 
Andrew had said, " Dear Master, we have no way to feed 
these hungry people, but you can feed them as easily 
as you turned the water into wine. You could turn 
these stones into bread." 

But no one said such words, and so Jesus told them 
to make the people sit down in rows on the grass, and 



ONE DAY WITH JESUS. 97 

they all sat down — five thousand men and women and 
children. Thinl< of them sitting there ! Can you see 
them, and Jesus and his disciples standing by ? Jesus 
has the little barley cakes and the dried fishes in his 
hands, and the little boy who brought them stands near, 
looking up into his face and wondering what is going to 
happen. See ! Jesus looks up to heaven and gives thanks 
for the food, and then he begins to break off pieces and 
give to the disciples. He keeps on breaking and break- 
ing, and still the food does not fail until each disciple has 
all he can carry, and the disciples pass along the rows 
of people, giving to everyone, and the food in their 
hands is not gone until everyone has as much as he 
wishes for. Strangest of all, when they have done eating 
Jesus tells his disciples to take their baskets and gather 
up the fragments that are left, and they find twelve bas- 
ketsfuU of them. 

What will the people do now ? Do you see how they 
are talking together? They say, ^' Let us take this man 
and make him king ! He does the most wonderful things 
that ever were heard of. If we had him for a king he 
would give us food and heal us when we were sick." 

They do not love him or wish to be taught how to be 
good, but they want to be fed. And this tired Jesus, 
who has been all day serving them, now tells his disci- 
ples to go down to the ship and go back to Capernaum 
while he himself goes away alone to some quiet place 
up the mountain where he can pray and rest. It is 
growing dark now, and a storm is coming up. The peo- 
ple are hurrying to find shelter, and out on the sea the 
great waves are tossing the boat about and the wind 
beats down upon it. Philip and Andrew and Peter are 
good sailors, but in spite of all their rowing they cannot 
T 



98 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



reach the shore, and they drift about until after mid- 
night. Then some one sees a strange sight. Over yon- 
der across the water they see some one who seems to 
be walking on the waves. They watch this appearance 
coming nearer and nearer, and just as they cry out for 
fear they hear the voice of Jesus saying, '' It is I ; be 
not afraid." How glad they are to have Jesus once 
more with them ! Now they will not be afraid of the 
storm. But, see, there is no storm ! the sea is smooth 
again, and, instead of being away out from shore, here 
they are right in the harbor, just where they wanted 
to go. 

Was not this a wonderful day ? 



FEEDING THE MULTITUDE. 99 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FEEDING THE MULTITUDE. 

The twelve disciples whom Jesus chose for liis closest 
friends and companions had been away for some time 
from their Master. He had sent them out by two and 
two through the villages of Galilee to teach and to 
preach. He had given them power to work miracles in 
his name, and these disciples, who must have gone out 
with a good deal of fear and trembling, found that even 
the evil spirits were obedient to them through the name 
of Jesus. It began to seem as if the kingdom of their 
Lord was going to be set up at once, but in the midst of 
their rejoicing a dreadful thing happened. 

Herod, the cruel ruler who had shut up John the Bap- 
tist in prison, beheaded him there to please a wicked 
woman who hated him. The disciples were troubled and 
alarmed. They could not understand why this messen- 
ger, whom Jesus had said was greater than any prophet 
that ever had lived, should be left to die. What if 
Herod should seize their own dear Master also? They 
must go to him for counsel. So, gathering themselves 
together, they went back to Jesus to tell him all they 
had done, as well as the sorrowful new^s about his mes- 
senger. 

Jesus saw that they needed rest; he himself was weary 
also, and yet the multitudes gave him no time so much 
as to eat in peace, so he took his disciples and sailed 
aw^ay across the Sea of Galilee to a desert place beyond 



lOO HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

Bethsaida. But it was not possible to get away from the 
people. They saw where he was going, and ran on foot 
along the shore, until, in the desert place where Jesus 
had landed, he was surrounded by thousands of people, 
men, women, and children, a great helpless flock that 
looked to Jesus like sheep without any shepherd. 

Instead of sending them away Jesus welcomed them ; 
instead of leaving them to seek his own rest he talked 
to them about the kingdom of God ; he liad pity on 
their bodies and healed those that had need of heal- 
ing, and by and by, when evening drew near, and he 
thought how far they were from home, and that they 
must be faint and hungry, he bade his disciples give them 
food to eat. 

The disciples were astonished. They forgot what won- 
derful things they had been doing in the name of Jesus, 
and, instead of saying, ^' Yes, Lord, we will, only tell us 
how to begin," they said, " Why, it would take two hun- 
dred pennyworth of bread just to give each one a little, 
and we have only five barley loaves and two small fishes 
that a lad has brought ; what would they be among so 
many ? Shall we go and buy food for them all ? " Once, 
we are told, our Lord looked sorrowfully upon his disci- 
ples, being troubled because of their unbelief, and no 
doubt it troubled him to see it now, but he was very 
patient with them. 

He bade them seat the multitudes upon the grass in 
companies of fifty, and then he took in his hands the 
food they had brought, and, looking up to heaven, gave 
thanks for it. The five loaves and the two fishes were 
God's gift as much as the great multitude of fishes that 
filled Simon's net, and for all his gifts we are to give 
thanks. What God sends is always enough for our 



FEEDING THE MULTITUDE. 



lOI 



needs if he blesses it, and so, as Jesus went on breaking 
the food and giving it to his disciples, they fed rank after 
rank and company after company of the hungry people, 
and still there was plenty in their hands. They ate, not 
until each one had a little, but until all were filled, and 
even then there were pieces enough left to fill twelve 
baskets, or pockets, such as the Jews carried hanging 
from the girdle when they went upon a journey. 

There was one person whose part in this miracle we 
must not forget. We think first of the Lord Jesus, whose 
divine power multiplied the small portion that was put 
in his hands, just as now he blesses and makes increase 
all our service that we honestly devote to him ; then we 
think of the disciples, who were not only fed themselves, 
but sent to feed others, and yet had more left than before 
they began ; but we ought also to remember the little 
lad to whom the loaves and fishes belonged. Perhaps it 
was his own supper, the barley cakes and dried fish, and 
he gave it up at the bidding of Jesus ; or perhaps he had 
brought it for the Master, and had not courage to offer 
it. How glad he must have been that he brought it, 
and what a wonderful story he had to tell when he went 
home that night to his father and mother ! Did he re- 
member what Jesus had said about the kingdom of God, 
as well as what he had done? 




102 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

COMING TO JESUS. 

The people whom Jesus had fed with the loaves and 
fishes did not go very far away. They saw the disciples 
get into the little boat and row away toward Capernaum, 
but Jesus was not with them, so they felt sure he was still 
somewhere near by. But in the morning they could not 
find him, and they concluded that in some way he must 
have gone back to Capernaum, so they went on board 
some boats and went over there also. They found him 
at Capernaum, and they were very much astonished, for 
they could not understand how he could have crossed 
the sea. Only the disciples knew how at midnight Jesus 
had walked across the stormy water to the boat, and 
when the people asked Jesus, " Rabbi, how camest thou 
hither?" he did not tell them. 

When they were on the mountain side the day before 
his heart pitied them because they had no one to teach 
them, and he talked to them about the things of God. 
But now, when he looked into their hearts, he saw that 
they were not thinking or caring for what he had told 
them ; they did not care that he was the Son of God who 
had come to save them ; they were only thinking of the 
food he gave them to eat. They knew that when Moses 
led the people through the wilderness the manna which 
they called bread from heaven came down every day to 
feed them, and they wanted Jesus to be their king and 
feed them every day as he had done the day before. They 



COMING TO JESUS. I03 

gathered about Jesus in the synagogue where he was 
teaching;, waitingr to see if he would not do some won- 
derful miracle to please them. Then Jesus preached 
them a sermon about bread. 

He told them there were two kinds of food ; food for 
the body and food for the soul. The food for the body 
does not last ; we eat it and it is gone, and very soon we 
are hungry again. This food helps us to grow and makes 
us strong, but it cannot keep our bodies from dying. By 
and by our bodies will be old and worn out or sick, and 
the food cannot keep them alive. But we ourselves need 
not die when these houses of ours fall to pieces. There 
is another kind of food which God will give us if we ask 
him. It is called living bread and living water, and our 
souls must be fed with this if we are to live forever with 
our Lord in heaven. Jesus Christ came down from 
heaven on purpose to give this living bread to all who 
want it, and tells us how we may get it. He says, '' He 
that Cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that 
believeth on me shall never thirst." That means that if 
we will just go to Jesus and ask him to take us and for- 
give our sins and make our hearts new and keep them 
clean, he will do it, and he will take such blessed care of 
us, teaching us and doing for us just what we need, that 
we sliall be like little children whom a tender mother 
takes care of. She knows what they need and she pro- 
vides food for them, and they never go hungry or thirsty, 
but have all their wants supplied. So Jesus continually 
feeds our souls and gives us every day new supplies of 
grace and love. 

Will he do this for everyone ? for you and for me and 
for all ? Yes, for lie says, " Him that cometh to me I 
will in no wise cast out," He will take everyone 



104 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



who comes, and not for any reason will he turn one 
away. 

And those who come to him he will keep. No one is 
strong enough to take one of them away from him, and 
he will not lose one of them. Why should not everyone 
go to him ? Once Jesus looked at the people about him 
and said, sorrowfully, " Ye will not come unto me that 
ye might have life." He says that now to all who for- 
get him and turn away from him ; for he never forgets 
us or ceases to love us. The people who crowded about 
him that day in Capernaum have all been dead hundreds 
of years. But if any of them believed his word and 
trusted in him they are living with him now, and under- 
stand just what he meant when he said, ''He that be- 
lieveth on me shall never die." Some day we shall 
understand it a great deal better than we can now, but 
we can go to Jesus and ask him to take us and keep us 
and feed us day by day with that heavenly bread. Then 
everything that is pure and beautiful and holy will grow 
stronger within our hearts, the light of God's Spirit will 
shine in our eyes, and all who know us will see that we 
are the children of our Father in heaven. 




THE TRANSFIGURATION. I05 



CHAPTER XXV. 

THE TRANSFIGURATION. 

Among the twelve apostles those who best understood 
the words of Jesus were Peter, James, and John, the 
three fishermen, who had been drawn together as friends 
and companions before they became disciples. 

This was doubtless the reason why Jesus so often made 
them his special companions, and why, on the night of 
the transfiguration, when he went up into the mountain 
to pray, he took them with him, leaving the rest of his 
disciples on the plain below. 

They were all sorrowful and perplexed. Only a few 
days before Jesus had told them that while he was, as 
they said, Christ, the Son of God, he was soon to be 
shamed and scourged and put to death ; and the assur- 
ance that the third day he should rise again did not 
comfort them in the least. In all their experience the 
death of the worker had ended his personal work. 

If he really were the Christ, how could he finish his work 
and yet be rejected and killed? If he were the Son of 
•God, why should he let his enemies triumph over him ? 
If he died, would he not be forever lost to them, as Mo- 
ses and Elijah and all the other prophets were ? No doubt 
Peter and James and John, more than the others, had 
been thinking and talking about these strange sayings. 
They were all weary with the work and travel of the 
day, and the disciples were heavy with sleep, yet they 
loved their Master too well to leave him to his loneli- 



I06 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

ness, so they kept watcli while he prayed. He looked 
to them like any common man, with a body like their 
own, and, as he knelt there, was he not praying, just as 
they did, for help and strength? Had he not taught 
them to say " Our Father " just as he did? What did 
it mean that he was the Christ, the Son of God, and yet 
was to die by the hands of wicked men ? 

But suddenly, as they looked, they saw a change come 
upon their Master. He was no longer a weary man, 
with a pale, sorrowful face. His countenance brightened 
and glowed until it shone like the sun, and his garments 
were white and glistening — whiter than snow, more ra- 
diant than anything their eyes had ever seen. They 
were not heavy with sleep any longer ; they were wide 
awake, and, as they looked in silent awe, two other shin- 
ing ones stood by their Master. They also were in the 
form of men, but glorious in appearance, and the disci- 
ples in some way knew that these were Moses and Elias. 
They heard the words they spoke as they talked with 
Jesus, talking of this same death, which had seemed to 
them so terrible, as if it was all a part of God's plan; a 
part of the work for which Jesus came, and not the end 
of it ; the very work for which Moses and Elijah pre- 
pared the way. 

It is not strange that the disciples were so filled with 
awe and wonder that they knew not what they said. 
They saw for the first time their Master looking like the 
Son of God, and the two greatest prophets come back to 
earth to help him in his mission. But Moses and Elias 
seemed to be departing, and Peter, who had been the 
one to say, "Be it far from thee, Lord," when Jesus 
talked of his crucifixion, spoke hastily to beg that they 
might be allowed to build three booths upon the moun- 




THE TRANSFIGURATION. 



loB HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

tain, that Jesus and his glorious con:ipanions might re- 
main there together. 

Even while he was speaking they vanished, and over 
them all came a cloud of glory overshadowing Jesus and 
his disciples. Peter forgot his foolish words, for out of 
the cloud came a solemn voice saying, " This is my be- 
loved Son : hear him." The disciples fell upon their 
faces and were sore afraid, until Jesus came and touched 
them, saying, in his own loving tones, ''Arise, and be not 
afraid." 

When they rose the heavenly vision had vanished ; 
there was only Jesus with them; no longer in shining 
garments and glorious to look upon, but a man of sor- 
rows and acquainted with grief. 

Instead of staying on the mountain with Moses and 
Elias he led them down to where the multitude was 
waiting to be taught and the poor father to have his 
lunatic son healed. 

Peter and James and John kept in their own hearts 
what they had seen, and though they did not wholly un- 
derstand it then they did after a time, when the things 
of which Moses and Elias had talked came to pass. 
Their eyes had seen these prophets, dead for hundreds 
of years; they had heard them talk of what was now go- 
ing on and about to be done on earth, and they could 
better realize that Jesus also, though withdrawn from 
sight into the heavens, still lived, caring for his people, 
conscious of their needs, and working with them. They 
had received — 

1. Proof of intelligent, active, personal existence after 
death. 

2. Testimony to the unbroken chain of God's provi- 
dence and control in this world. 



THE TRANSFIGURATION. 



109 



3. Confirmation of the divinity and authority of Jesus 
Christ. 

4. Illustration that immortality may be veiled by mor- 
tality, and of the glory that shall be revealed by its un- 
veilins:. 




no HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

JESUS AND THE LITTLE MAID. 

Our Lord Jesus did so many wonderful things in the few 
years which he lived upon earth that if they had all been 
written down we should have a great number of books 
filled with the story instead of only one. Each of the four 
disciples, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, wrote down 
the things that he remembered best. Sometimes, when 
they told of the same thing, Luke would put in some- 
thing that John left out ; but it helps us to understand 
the story better if we read it the way each one has told it. 

One of the most touching events in Jesus's life is the 
raising from the dead of a little girl. She was about 
twelve years old, and her father was named Jairus. He 
was one of the rulers of the synagogue, so they probably 
lived at Capernaum. 

The little girl was so sick that there was no hope of 
her getting well, and Jesus had been away across the 
lake, and had but just returned. Perhaps when they were 
all weeping at the ruler's house, and waiting for the 
child to die, some one came running in and said to the 
father, *' Did you know that Jesus is in the city ? He 
came back yesterday, and Matthew, the publican, has 
made him a feast. They are at dinner now." 

The father hastened away to the house, and, kneeling 
at Jesus's feet, said : 

*' My little daughter lieth at the point of death : I pray 
thee, come lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live," 



jESUS AND THE LITTLE MAID. Ill 

Jesus had pity on the distressed father, and started to 
go with him at once, but the people thronged about him 
on the street so that he could only move very slowly. 
There were many who wanted help, and kept calling out 
to him and crowding about him. There was one poor 
sick woman who had not courage enough to cry out, but 
who stiir wanted to be helped. She had been sick for 
twelve years, and she had spent all her money upon phy- 
sicians who tried to cure her, but instead of getting bet- 
ter she grew worse. She had heard of Jesus, and she 
said, " I will not trouble him ; I will only touch his gar- 
ment with my finger. If I may but touch his garment 
I shall be whole." So she pressed through the crowd 
and came behind him and touched the hem of his gar- 
ment. Instantly she felt in her body that she was 
cured. But Jesus felt the touch of her finger just as the 
mother hears amid all other noises the voice of her own 
little child calling out to her. The touch meant, " Help 
me," and Jesus turned about and smiled upon her and 
said, *' Daughter, be of good cheer; thy faith hath made 
thee whole." 

All this time Jairus was thinking only of his own little 
daughter, and wondering if she were still alive. Just as 
Jesus spoke to the woman there came a messenger from 
the ruler's house, saying, "Thy daughter is dead ; trou- 
ble not the Master ; " but Jesus said to him, " Fear not, 
believe only, and she shall be made whole." So they 
went on together to the house, and there they found the 
friends weeping, crying aloud, and the hired minstrels 
singing doleful songs, as they do in that country when 
anyone dies. They thought Jesus had come too late, 
and when he said to them, " The maid is not dead, but 
sleepeth," they laughed at him. They knew she was dead, 



112 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

but they did not understand that death is only a sleep 
from which the voice of God can awaken his children. 
Then Jesus sent them all out except the father and 
mother and his three disciples, Peter, James, and John. 
He took the little girl by the hand and said, " Maid, 
arise ! " Then her spirit came back again into her body, 
and she arose from her bed and walked, and Jesus bade 
them give her some food, for they were so much aston- 
ished they did not know what to do. They could only 
think of telling everyone the wonderful story, but Jesus 
bade them not to tell it. He could not raise every dead 
person to life, or heal every sick one ; that was not the 
work for which he came to earth, and the more people 
heard of his miracles the more they crowded about him 
and hindered him from his teaching. 

Such news could not be kept. When he came out he 
found two blind men waiting, who followed him crying for 
help. When he reached the house where he was staying, 
the blind men came to him. Jesus said, " Believe ye that 
I am able to do this?" They said unto him, ''Yea, 
Lord." Then he touched their eyes and said, ''Accord- 
ing to your faith be it unto you." They really had faith, 
for their eyes were opened, and they went away prais- 
ing the power of the man who had healed them. 

There is one thing which was said of all these people 
who came to Jesus for help, and that is, they had faith ; 
they believed Jesus could help them, and they trusted 
him to do it. The way for anyone to get help from God 
is to feel you need help, to believe God can give you 
help, and to trust that he zvill give it. Whether we 
ask for the forgiveness of our sins or for anything else 
this is the way to go to our Father. This is the kind of 
asking of which Jesus said, " Ask, and ye shall regeive," 



114 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

THE GOOD SAMARITAN. 

Jesus often taught by means of stories. Sometimes 
the lesson was in the story itself, like a picture in a beau- 
tiful frame, and sometimes the story was only to explain 
the lesson and make it clearer, like a lamp held up to 
throw light on a picture. But though the stories were 
told for men, and some of them for very wise men, they 
are all so sweet and simple that a child can understand 
them, and no one ever wearies of them. Some things that 
pleased us very much when we were children seem foolish 
to us when we grow older; but it is not so with the stories 
Jesus told. The older we grow, and the more we study 
them, the more they impress us. In our lesson to-day 
we have one of these wonderful stories by which Jesus 
sought to teach us what kind of love should be in our 
hearts and govern our actions toward others. 

He seems to have been sitting and talking with his 
disciples, while others were listening to his words, and 
presently one of the listeners stood up to ask him a ques- 
tion. This man was called a lawyer, because his business, 
was to study the law and teach it. He thought he was 
asking Jesus a hard question when he said, " Master, 
what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" It was a very 
solemn question ; Jesus himself had said that it was of 
no value to a man to gain the whole world and fail to 
win eternal life. But the lawyer did not ask because he 
was anxious to know what he must do, but to hear a\ hat 



THE GOOD SAMARITAN. II5 

Jesus would say. He may have expected him to say, 
*'Come, and be my disciple," or, " Listen to my teach- 
ings and you will know ; " but Jesus did not tell him any 
new way. He sent him to the very book he had all his 
life been studying, and whose teachings he professed to 
understand so perfectly — the book of the law. 

Jesus said, "What is written in the law?" When 
Satan tried to tempt our Lord he answered him in the 
same way, by the words that were written in the law. 
When the lawyer said, "What must I do?" he meant, 
" How must I live?" and now he answered Jesus by re- 
peating these words-: " Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with 
all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor 
as thyself." 

Jesus did not add a word to this law ; he only said, 
" That is right ; if you do this you shall have eternal 
life ; " and then he stopped. 

The lawyer thought about it. To love God with all 
the heart and soul and strength and mind meant to de- 
light in him and in his service ; to do his will diligently, 
earnestly, intelligently ; he knew he had not that kind of 
love. And then to love his neighbor as himself ; he loved 
some people, he was willing to serve and help his friends 
when he could do it without too much trouble, but he 
had always taught that our neighbors were only our own 
countrymen, and that we might love some people and 
hate others ; so he asked another question, " And who 
is my neighbor? " 

Again Jesus did not answer directly, but told a beau- 
tiful story of a traveler on his way from Jerusalem to 
Jericho, the city where the priests and Levites lived. It 
was a dangerous road, for bands of robbers lived in the 



Il6 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

caves and mountains, and some of them attacked this 
traveler, stripped him of even his clothes, and left him 
lyinf? there wounded and half dead. After a time an- 
other traveler came by. He was a priest, and was con- 
sidered a very good and holy man, but he only looked at 
the poor man and went on his way. Perhaps he thought 
it would be too much trouble to attend to him, or was 
afraid the robbers might attack him also, or he said, '' I 
am in a great hurry to get home, and somebody else will 
probably help him ; " at least he went on and did noth- 
ing. Presently came another traveler ; he was a good 
man too, but he had some excuse for not helping the 
wounded man, and he went on. But before the poor 
man was quite dead a Samaritan came riding by. The 
Jews despised the Samaritans, and thought them no 
better than heathen, but this one showed that he had 
true brotherly love that was ready to help any who were 
in need. He bound up the man's wounds, cleansing and 
dressing^ them with the oil and wine which travelers 
carried on journeys. Then he set him on his own beast 
and brought him to an inn and stayed to take care of 
him until morning. The next day, before he went away 
on his own business, he gave the landlord of the inn 
some money, saying, "Take care of him; and whatso- 
ever thou spendest more I, when I come back, will 
repay thee." 

When Jesus finished the story he asked the lawyer 
which of these three men he thought was neighbor to 
the man who fell among thieves. The lawyer answered, 
" He that showed mercy on him," and Jesus said to him, 
" Goj and do thou likewise," 



THE TWELVE MESSENGERS. II7 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

THE TWELVE MESSENGERS. 

After the twelve disciples had been with Jesus some 
time, had seen him work many miracles, and been taught 
by him about the kingdom of God and the way to have 
a part in it, he sent them out to begin their work of 
carrying the good news to others. He did not send 
them away to stay very long, but only for a short jour- 
ney; and though they went in different directions, he 
did not send anyone alone, but always two together, so 
they could help and encourage each other. He called 
them to him and told them just what they were to do. 
He told them they need not take any money with 
them or even any bread to eat by the way, for God 
would take care of them, and they must learn to trust 
him. They must not take anything to burden or hinder 
them ; no clothes except what they wore, not even an 
extra coat, as travelers usually did, but put their sandals 
on their feet, and take a staff in their hand, and go on 
their way, preaching as they went, and saying to every- 
body, *' The kingdom of heaven is at hand." 

Whenever they came to a city they were to go into 
some house where the people were willing to receive 
them in God's name, and there they were to stay all the 
time they were in that city. They must not go about 
visiting their friends or to feasts and suppers, but re- 
member they had been sent on important business, and 
must give all their attention to that. If anyone re- 



Il8 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

fused to receive them or to listen to them they were 
not to be troubled or discouraged, but just go on to an- 
other city. There were many people who would not re- 
ceive Jesus himself. You remember the people over be- 
yond Galilee besought him to go away from them, and 
even in his own city, Nazareth, they would not believe 
on him. They said, " Why, this man is just a carpenter ; 
we know his mother and his brothers and sisters. How 
can he have such great power or be so much wiser than 
we?" And Jesus knew that many people would not re- 
ceive his messengers, but he said that those who had a 
chance to hear and refused would surely be punished, 
and that when they came before God in judgment they 
would be counted much worse than the heathen nations 
who knew very little about God and had never heard of 
his Son, Jesus Christ. 

If we had been in Nazareth we might have seen them 
setting out, two and two. Andrew and Peter would be 
sure to go together, and perhaps they would take the 
road toward Tiberias. And presently they would meet 
some merchantmen on their way from Tyre, and would 
stop to talk with them, or they would find a traveler 
sitting to rest under a palm tree, or a shepherd drawing 
water for his flock by some well, or a company of pil- 
grims going up to Jerusalem. For everybody they had 
the same message; they "preached that men should re- 
pent," and they healed the sick and cast out evil spirits 
in the name of Jesus by the power which he had given 
them. It was just as Jesus had said, some received 
them and some would not; some listened and some 
turned away; and when they had finished their work 
they went back and told Jesus all about it. 

These were the first messengers Jesus sent out, but 



120 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

• 
ever since he has been sending them, until thousands 

and thousands of voices are telhng the good news of his 
kingdom and preaching that men should repent. In 
some countries, like India and China, where missionaries 
are sent, they still go out very much as Andrew and 
Peter went, talking to the people wherever they find 
them, along the road, or by the riverside, or at work in 
the fields ; and when they come to the little villages 
they go in wherever the people will receive them, and 
sit down and teach. 

But one of the very last messages which our Lord 
sent us in the Bible is, " Let him that heareth say. Come ; 
and whosoever will, let him come," so that everybody 
who knows about Jesus — men, women, and children, you 
and I just as much as anyone — are bidden to go and 
tell others. And just as Andrew and Peter preached as 
they went, so we can tell the story wherever we are, and 
while we are about our daily work. Jesus sends broth- 
ers and sisters out by twos and threes and in little com- 
panies as his messengers. They need not be old or 
strong or wise to carry his message. The disciples had 
no power of their own, but Jesus gave them power, 
power to heal diseases, power to cast out evil spirits in 
his name. So even a child may show people how they 
may be healed of the disease of sin, and how evil spirits 
may be cast out of their hearts, and have no more power 
over them, in the name of Jesus. And a child can help 
to feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and comfort 
those in trouble, and care for the sick, and do such 
works of mercy and love as Jesus himself did. 



THE SEVENTY MESSENGERS. 121 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE SEVENTY MESSENGERS. 

The twelve disciples whose names we know were not 
the only messengers whom Jesus sent out to preach. 
He once chose seventy men from among his followers, 
gave them the same power to heal diseases and cast out 
evil spirits that he had given to the twelve, and sent 
them before him to go by two and two into all the 
cities where he himself was coming, that they might 
prepare the people to receive him and listen to his words. 

Their business Avas to prepare the way for Jesus, and 
to this same work he has sent all who truly love him in 
every nation and under all circumstances. Every serv- 
ant of his is called to be his messenger to prepare his 
way; so we need to study carefully the directions he 
gave these seventy early messengers that we may know 
how he would have us work so that we may succeed. 

I. Our work is needed because there is a great deal to 
do and very few^ people to do it. Jesus said to these 
seventy messengers that the world was like a great 
harvest field where the grain was ripe and ready to be 
gathered, but only a few laborers to attend to it. It is 
God's harvest, it is very precious ; if it is not gathered 
for him much of it will be wasted or stolen by the 
enemy ; but if each one would do his part the very 
youngest might perhaps save a few precious grains from 
loss; and Jesus said the angels were glad when even one 
was saved. 



122 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

2. Jesus bade the seventy go, but he told them to 
pray to the Lord of the harvest to give them such an 
eager desire to work that it would push them out to 
help, as the steam drives the engine along the track. 
There must be something in the heart that loves to 
work and longs to work and will work, and for this they 
were to pray. 

3. Put God's work first. These seventy messengers 
were sent out on special business, and they were to do 
nothing else until it was accomplished. They were to 
do it as quickly as they could, and so they were not to 
allow themselves to be hindered by going from one 
house to another or stopping by the way for the long 
salutations which took so much time. As if a father 
should say to his son, " I wish you to go and do this 
errand for me and come directly back ; do not stop a 
minute to speak to any of your friends." That would 
be a special command for a special errand. But always 
the son should make it his first care to obey and please 
his father, and he may be thinking of his wishes while 
he is working or studying or playing. So God's work 
should have the first place in our hearts, and we should 
not allow anything, however right or harmless or pleas- 
ant to interfere ^\'ith it. 

4. Trust God and have no anxious care. Jesus bade 
his messengers not to burden and hinder themselves by 
carrying extra clothing or stopping to provide food or 
money for the journey, but trust in the provision he 
would make day by day for their needs. This was 
another special direction for a special journey, but it is 
always true that God's workers need have no anxious 
care for food or clothing or necessary things. They are 
bidden to be diligent in business while they are fervent 



THE SEVENTY MESSENGERS. 1 23 

in spirit, serving the Lord, and then they are assured 
that all their needs will be supplied. 

These messengers were to help men's bodies by heal- 
ing their diseases and casting out the evil demons that 
vexed them, as well as to tell of Jesus and say that he 
was coming. So to-day it is a part of God's work to 
feed the hungry, nurse the sick, and in every way help 
the suffering, and so prepare the way for the kingdom of 
love and good will and holiness. 

If a father sends a message to his son by a servant and 
the son does not regard it he is dishonoring the father. 
So Jesus said to the seventy, as he says to all his mes- 
sengers, " He that heareth you heareth me ; and he that 
rejecteth you rejecteth me." 

To reject a messenger is not to treat him rudely or 
refuse to listen to him, but to pay no attention to the 
command or the advice or the request he brings us. We 
hear Christ in his messengers when we listen and open 
our hearts to receive him, for wherever he sends his 
messengers there he is ready to come himself. We 
reject him when we listen to prayer or Scripture or 
hymn, or even to birds and winds and the story of stars 
and flowers, yet shut our hearts to his entering in, as 
some of these cities of Galilee might have closed their 
gates at his coming. 

After all, it was of no avail to those cities if even 
Jesus came to them if they did not hear his sayings and 
do them. Jesus said those cities wherein most of his 
mighty works were done, like Capernaum and Bethsaida, 
and which yet did not repent and believe, wei"e much 
worse than the wicked city of Sodom that never heard 
such wonderful words. 

Every message from God, every blessing he sends us, 



124 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



makes us either better or worse. A child who does not 
obey when the parent speaks once is disobedient ; but a 
child who still does not obey when the parent speaks 
again and again, and pleads and entreats, surely grows 
harder and more rebellious and must receive severer 
punishment. 




OPENING BLIND EYES. 12$ 



CHAPTER XXX. 

OPENING BLIND EYES. 

About the time that our Lord Jesus Christ was born 
in Bethlehem another Httle baby was born in the city of 
Jerusalem near by. This baby's father and mother were 
poor people, but they were glad when their little boy 
was born. They loved him and took the best care of 
him they could, and watched, as fathers and mothers do, 
to see when the baby would begin to notice them and 
smile back at them. Perhaps this was their first little 
baby, and if he was they took him, when he was a few 
weeks old, and carried him up to the temple to present 
him to God. They said, '* This is God's little child ; 
we will try to teach him and train him so that he may 
grow up to be good." 

But as the baby grew older they began to see that 
something was wrong with his eyes. He did not seem 
to mind the bright sunshine or to notice the gayest 
flowers, and by and by they had to make up their minds 
that their dear little baby was blind. The neighbors 
heard of it, and they were sorry for the father and 
mother, and for the baby too ; but no one could help 
them. The Jews thought that God let children be born 
blind to punish their parents for some dreadful sin, and 
they felt sure that the father and mother must have done 
something very displeasing to God. They even thought 
that the baby's soul might have lived at some time 
in another body and done some very wicked thing, and 



126 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

SO God had sent him back again to hve in a bhnd body 
for a punishment. 

The Httle blind baby grew older and by and by grew 
up to be a man, but in those days the blind were never 
taught to do anything, so he could not work to help his 
father and mother or take care of himself. The only 
thing he could do was to go and sit by the gate of the 
temple and beg of every one that passed by. Year after 
year he sat there begging, until he was more than thirty 
years old. Then, on a Sabbath day, the Lord Jesus 
passed by with his disciples, and they stopped to look at 
him, with his blind eyes and his poor ragged garments 
and his hand held out for money. They talked a little 
about the blind man, and Jesus told his disciples they 
must not think that God made him blind just to punish 
him, but rather he had allowed him to be born in that 
way so that he might show his love and power in help- 
ing him. How eagerly tlie poor blind man listened ! 
Never in all his life had he heard kind words like these, 
and this man who spoke them said also, " I am the light 
of the world." Could it be possible that some great 
prophet had come who could give light to blind eyes? 

While he was listening and waiting Jesus spat on the 
ground and made a little moist clay, and touched the 
man's blind eyes with it, and said to him, ''Go, wash in 
the pool of Siloam." The blind man obeyed at once, and, 
though the clay and the water could not give him sight, 
the power of Jesus Christ opened his eyes and he could 
see. How wonderful the world must have looked to him 
when he saw it all for the first time ! 

And where do you think he would go first ? Home, 
I think, to see his father and mother, whose faces he had 
never seen, and tell them how wonderfully his sight had 






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JESUS HEALING A BLIND ^L\N. 



128 HOME TALKS xVBOUT THE WORD. 

been given to him. The news spread quickly among 
the neighbors, and they came to see him and asked, *' Is 
this really the man who sat and begged ? " Some said, 
" Yes, this is he ; " others said, " He looks like him, but 
we are not quite sure." But the man himself said, " I 
am he. A man who is called Jesus made clay and 
anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool 
of Siloam and wash ; and I went and washed, and came 
seeing." 

The neighbors did not know what to think of such a 
strange story, so they took the man to the Pharisees 
and he told it to them. At first they pretended not to 
believe it, but when they sent for the father and mother 
and asked them, " Is this really your son ? Was he really 
born blind ? " the father and mother said, " This is really 
our son, and he was born blind ; we are sure of that, but 
we cannot tell who has opened his eyes ; you must ask 
him ; he is old enough to speak for himself." Then 
they asked the man to tell them again just what Jesus 
did, and how he opened his eyes. The man said, " I 
have told you already, and you did not believe me. Do 
you wish to be his disciples? You say this Jesus is a 
sinner, but how docs it happen that God should hear a 
sinner and give him power to do such wonderful things ? 
Since the world began it was never heard that any man 
opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If Jesus 
were not of God he could do nothing." 

The Pharisees could not answer the man, but they 
were very angry to think he should try to teach them, 
and they turned him out of the synagogue and said no 
one should have anything to do with him. I do not 
think the man cared. He was not rich or wise, but he 
knew that he. had been blind and now he could see, and 



OPENING BLIND EYES. 



129 



he was ready to love and serve the one who had given 
him such blessed help. And so one day when Jesus 
came to him and said, '' I am not only God's prophet, 
but I am the Son of God," the poo.r man believed at 
once, and worshiped him. 

Should not you like to know what became of this 
man ? Jesus and his disciples went away presently into 
the wilderness beyond Jordan, and it is very likely he 
went with them, and heard the words that Jesu^ spoke 
to the people and to his disciples as he sat alone with 
them, but nothing could ever have sounded so sweet to 
him as the words he first heard Avhen he was listening 
in darkness, " I am the light of the world." The blind 
man needed light for his body and light fcr his soul, and 
Jesus gave him both, but the best light was that which 
shone upon his soul when he said to Jesus, " Lord, I 
believe." He had no friends, but Jesus said, " I am the 
good shepherd ; my sheep shall never perish." He was 
not very wise, but Jesus said, " lie that foUoweth me 
shall not walk in darkness." lie had no home, but Jesus 
said, '' Fear not, little flock ; in my Father's house are 



many 



mansions. 



The Pharisees mic^ht even wish to 



kill him, but Jesus said, " Fear not them that kill the 
body ; " so, always, whatever happened, he was safe. 




I ^.O HOME TALi^S Al'.OUT THE WORT). 



CHArXER XXXI. 

THE TRUE VINE. 

LAvST June I saw a j)i"etty summer house on a lawn 
that had been decorated for a birthday party. It was 
covered all over with evergreen boughs and wild grape- 
vines. The grapevines were in full blossom, and they 
were sweeter than any roses. But the next day all the 
vines were withered, and the gardener pulled them down 
and carried thqm away and burned them. If they had 
been left in the woods v.'here they grew the blossoms 
would have changed into fruit and the fruit would have 
ripened ; but branches that arc cut off from the vine 
cannot grow ; they must die, because they need the vine 
to feed them. And just as the branch cannot bear fruit 
unless it grows upon the vine, so God's children cannot 
go on living and growing and bearing fruit for him if 
they go away from him. Jesus said to his disciples, "I 
am the vine, ye are the branches. As the branch cannot 
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more 
can ye, except ye abide in me." 

Even little children can understand what that means. 
They know how the vine draws up from the earth the 
food that feeds every branch and makes the fruit grow 
and ripen. They know what becomes of branches that 
are broken off — how quickly they wither and dry up. 
But what shall we do that we may ''abide in Christ?" 
We must not think we can bear fruit of ourselves. No 
matter how good people seem to be, or how hard they 



THE TRUE VINE. 131 

try to do right and please God, they cannot go on grow- 
ing in love and wisdom and getting stronger as they get 
older unless they have help from the Friend who lived 
and died to help them. He must take us to be his own, 
so that, just as the sap from the vine flows through the 
branches, the grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ 
flows through our souls and makes his life our life. 

Sometimes a branch is broken a little by a storm, cTr 
because someone bends it carelessly, and then it is broken 
a little more, until by and by it falls quite down and 
withers. So sometimes sin and forgetfulness and dis- 
obedience begin to separate some branch from God's 
vine and break it further and further, until, instead of 
growing, it dies. When you forget to keep holy the 
Sabbath day, when you say what is not quite true, when 
you give way to selfishness, when you do not from your 
heart desire to please God, you are not growing fast to 
the vine; by and by you may be separated further; 
some day you may be cut off. 

God can keep us growing, and he will. He wants us 
to bear fruit, that is, to grow better and better every 
day and help to make others better. He has given us a 
book filled with beautiful words to teach us how to live 
to please him ; and Jesus says, " If ye abide in me, and 
my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it 
shall be done unto you." Then we have only to keep 
close to Jesus every day, to have his words always in our 
hearts, and then whatever we need will be given to us. 

A great many things have to be done to the branches 
of a vine if we wish to have the very best fruit. It has 
to be tied up, and sometimes a part of it cut off. And 
so Jesus tells us that our wise Father, who cares for 
every little branch, tends and trains and trims them, so 



132 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



that they may bear more fruit, and grow just in the way 
he wishes to have them. When sickness comes, when we 
are disappointed in our plans, when God does not let us 
have what we want, we must remember about the gar- 
dener's work, and be sure that our Father knows best 
how to train us so that we may bear much fruit. The 
branches of God's vine bear many kinds of fruit, and pa- 
tience and gentleness in pain are beautiful fruit in his sight. 
How may we know that we abide in Christ? Because 
we keep his commandments; because we love him; be- 
cause we love one another. To abide means to stay 
always ; to continue means to go on. So Jesus says, 
" Abide in me — stay with me always ; continue ye in 
my love — go on loving me and keeping my command- 
ments, and most of all this new commandment. That 
ye love one another as I have loved you." 




CONFESSING CHRIST. 1 33 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

CONFESSING CHRIST. 

When two armies go out to fight each army has its 
own uniform and its own banner, and the soldiers let 
everyone know to which side they belong and who is 
their leader. So the soldiers of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
if they really belong to him, must own their leader every- 
where and have his name on their banners. 

It was not always an eas}^ thing to say, " I belong to 
the Lord Jesus," in the days when the disciples were 
first sent out to teach and to preach. The scribes and 
the Pharisees hated him, and those who followed him 
were despised and persecuted ; they were turned out of 
the synagogues and out of their homes, and sometimes 
put to death, as Stephen was, and a great many others. 
Jesus told them this would be so, but he told them if 
they really loved him they would be willing to serve and 
follow him. Pie told of three things which his disciples 
must do : 

I. Own him before men. To confess Christ, or to own 
him for our Master before men, means a great deal more 
than just to saj/wQ belong to him. It means to \.xy first 
to find out just what he wants us to do. We can learn 
this from the Bible, where he has told how those must 
live who are the children of God. He says, " Remem- 
ber the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ; " '' Be kindly affec- 
tioned one toward another ; " " Follow peace with all men, 
and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord ; " 



134 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

'' Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the 
Lord ; " '' Let brotherly love continue ; " " Children, obey 
your parents in the Lord ; " " Pray without ceasing ; " 
and '' In everything give thanks." 

These are only a very few of the things that are writ- 
ten to tell us how we maybe the children of God, but 
when we have learned them the next thing is to do 
them. Jesus said, '^ If ye know these things, happy are 
ye if ye do them." So the second thing is to live exactly 
as he would have us live. Sometimes we think this is 
easy, but no one can do it without the help of the Holy 
Spirit to keep us from evil and draw our hearts to the 
right, to teach us when we do not know how to choose 
and bring us back to our Father when we go wrong. 
And then to ov/n Christ before men means also to try 
to lead others to serve him by living right and so setting 
them a good example by telling them of Jesus, by send- 
ing books and teachers and help to those who have less 
than we, and so following in the steps of the One who 
went about doing good. Jesus told his disciples that 
they must not only own him before men, but 

2. They must be ready to serve him in hard things. 
It is not sure that everyone will have very hard things 
to do, but we must love Jesus Christ enough to be will- 
ing to do whatever he asks of us. That is what he 
means by taking up your cross and following him : to 
give him all your heart's love and let him choose for you 
in everything. People in heathen lands often bear very 
cruel sufferings and do very hard things because they 
wish to please their idol gods. Ought not we, who have 
a loving and wise Father who cares only for our good, 
to trust him so that we shall be ready to give up every- 
thing if he bids us? 



CONFESSINC; CHRIST. 



135 



3. They must be ready to serve him in little things. 
Sometimes people who think they could do very hard 
things for Christ forget to do little things. Sometimes 
children who say they love their parents very much 
forget the little helpful things they might do to save 
them from weariness ; and so some of us who think we 
should like to go as missionaries and tell the heathen 
about Jesus do not remember to speak a kind word or 
do a kind act to those about us. Was it not good of 
Jesus to put into his word the assurance that even the 
least of the little things were seen and noticed by him? 
For when he tells us what we should do for him he 
does not forc^et to tell us what he vv'ill do for us ; and so 
with the three commands we have three promises : 

1. If we own him before men he will own us before 
our Father in heaven. He will not be ashamed to call 
us his, to prepare a place for us and welcome us. 

2. He will help us in hard places. Where we go he will 
go before us ; he will ever be our comfort and guide. 

3. Hq will remember and reward the smallest service. 
Even so little a gift as a cup of cold water given for his 
sake to the poorest of his children, or any kind deed to 
those who try to serve him, will be sure of a precious 
reward. What service have you rendered in the name 
of Jesus? What service can you do in his name? Can 
everyone tell by your life that you belong to his army? 




136 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 

LOST AND FOUND. 

We have some beautiful tokens of our Father's 
love and care for those who obeyed and trusted him, 
who had no anxious thought about the things of this life 
but committed all their ways to God, and made it their 
chief business to do his will. 

But this would be a very dark, hopeless world if God 
only loved those who love him. It was love that first 
found a way to take us out of sin and bring us to the 
Father, who always loved us ; a love so free and strong 
and wonderful that it is not strange men should find it 
hard to understand or believe it. All his life our Lord 
Jesus tried to teach men that love and mercy did not 
come to us because of our goodness, but that love came 
first and made goodness possible. His teaching was full 
of these two thoughts : that God loves sinners and 
works ceaselessly for their salvation, and that he expects 
all his children to love and work for the same end. 

The parables in this passage (Luke xv) were spoken 
to the Pharisees, who complained of Jesus because he 
welcomed sinners, taught them, and showed himself their 
friend. They are all about lost things ; and just as he 
had tried to make us understand how surely God will 
answer our prayers by bidding us think how gladly we 
give our children the things they ask of us, so now^ he 
bade the Pharisees remember how men seek for lost things 
and rejoice at finding them, that they might know how 




JESUS AMONG HIS DISCIPLES. 



138 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

God feels about the lost ones that are far more 
precious. 

The first parable was of the lost sheep. Out on those 
valleys and mountains where the shepherds led their 
flocks it Avas very easy for them to stray away and be 
lost, but the shepherd knew each sheep by name, and if 
from ever so large a flock one were lost the shepherd 
would leave all the rest and search for it until he found it. 
Then he would take the poor tired thing in his arms 
and carry it home rejoicing, and call his friends to rejoice 
with him. 

That, is the way our Father feels toward his lost chil- 
dren. Everyone is precious to him ; he is not willing 
that one should be lost. They are foolish and helpless 
and in great danger; they cannot find their own way 
back; they have no strength to come back. But our 
Father does not leave them to themselves ; he goes after 
them, he calls them, he never leaves them till he finds 
them, and then he takes them in his own strong arms 
and carries them home. He is glad because he has found 
them ; he rejoices over them, and all the angels rejoice 
with him. 

The second lost thing was apiece of silver, a coin such 
as the women of that country wear strung on a chain 
about the forehead. Every married woman must have 
ten of these pieces, and if one js lost it is considered a 
great disgrace and a sign of some dreadful misfortune. 
If one were lost the owner would light a candle and 
search and sweep in her dark little house and never 
rest until she found it. Then she too would call her 
friends and neighbors and bid them rejoice with her 
because she had found her piece which was lost. She 
would cleanse it from the dust, put it back in its place 



T.OST AND FOUND. 1 39 

with the others, and go about singing, " I have found it ! 
I have found it ! " 

Will our Father take less pains to find the precious 
soul that has fallen into the darkness and foulness of 
sin ? He will find his child, no matter where he hides 
himself; he will make the darkness light about him, no 
matter how black it is; he will cleanse him, no matter 
how foul he is ; he will rejoice over him as he sets him in 
his place as a beloved child, and all in heaven and on 
earth who have the spirit of God will rejoice also. 

This wonderfid love means a s^reat deal to us. With- 
out it we never could find our way back to God ; without 
it we never could hope to bring anyone else back. The 
message which Jesus brought us was, ''God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 
life ; " and with this message he bids us go to everybody. 

We love him because he first loved us ; because 
while we were yet sinners Christ died, and the best way 
to waken this love in others is just to tell the story of 
his patient, unfaiHng, forgiving love, that seeks and calls 
and entreats and delights to take the wanderer back. 
Jesus bade us show by love and mercy that we were the 
children of our Father; and Paul said, ** Beloved, if 
God so loved us, we ought also to love one another." 




40 HOxME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

THE LOST SON. 

The third parable that Jesus spoke to the Pharisees 
was so beautiful and so touching that we never tire of 
hearing it. The story of the lost sheep has been sung 
all over the world in the song of "The Ninety and 
Nine," and this story of the lost son has been put into 
wonderful paintings by great artists. But we do not 
need the paintings. When we read the sweet, simple 
story we can see it all as plainly as if it were being acted 
before our eyes. 

We usually call it the parable of the Prodigal Son. 
Prodigal means wasteful, and as we go on we shall see 
what precious things this young man wasted. We shall 
learn something more than wc were told in the story of 
the lost sheep, and that is, how we cam-e to be lost and 
what we ourselves must do to return to our Father's 
house. For we are not exactly like the sheep or the 
piece of silver ; we are like the prodigal son ; we are lost 
because we ourselves choose to go away from our 
Father's care. 

I. Waste. This son had a good home and a kind 
father, but he did not wish to be guided and directed ; 
he wanted to be independent ; he asked his father to 
give him his part of the property, and when he got it 
he took it and went a long way off — to a far country. 
He may not have intended to live a wicked life ; he 
only wanted to do as he pleased and have a good time ; 



THE LOST SON. I4I 

but he lived idly, he got into bad company, he grew, 
worse and worse, until by and by his money was all 
gone. He had wasted his substance ; not only his money, 
but far more precious riches : ^\'?>\., his father's love ; that 
he had set aside as if it were of no value, forgetting 
the father that never forgot him while he gave himself to 
evil companions; then his tijne, that might have been 
spent to some good purpose ; his JieahJi, for a life of riot- 
ing ruins the body as well as the soul ; his character, for 
a companion of vile men and women grows like his 
friends and associates ; \\\s property ^ for instead of earn- 
ing he was only scattering. All these were wasted ; and 
after they were gone there was nothing to show for 
them. We cannot go away from God's presence as the 
young man did from his father's ; everywhere his eye 
follows us, his presence is with us ; but when we turn 
from the things he loves and love the things he hates, 
when we reject his counsel and choose our own ways, 
we are separated in spirit from him, we are in a far 
country and wasting our substance. 

2. Want. After waste came want. The foolish son 
had spent all he had — money, time, love, character, 
health ; he was in want of everything, but nobody 
offered to help him. He had not fitted himself for any 
honorable place; he was just a poor, ragged fellow, who 
was glad to get the only work he was fit for — feeding 
swine. He was so wretched and hungry that he would 
have willingly eaten such food as the swine had, yet 
nobody pitied or offered him anything better. He had 
lost some things that no man could give back to him. 
No one can give us back the time and strength wasted 
in wrongdoing, the character ruined by evil ways, the 
substance that God meant us to spend in his service 



142 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

and under his directions. The father gave his son what 
might have made him rich and useful and happy, and he 
only got from it ruin. 

3. Regret — Resolve — Return. Hunger and misery 
made the young man stop and think. He came to him- 
self. He saw his folly. He said, " I have ruined my- 
self, and there is no help for me here. I am perish- 
ing with hunger while there is food enough in my 
father's house for even the hired servants." He said, 
" I will arise and go to my father ; I will confess my 
sin and my shame, and ask him only to save me from 
perishing." And then, without any delay, he went to 
his father. 

4. Welcome — Pardon — Love. The father had never 
ceased to love him and to long and watch for his return. 
He saw him a great way off; his heart pitied him, he 
ran to meet him, he kissed and embraced him before he 
could say, '' I have sinned ; " and though the son said, '' I 
am not worthy to be called a son," he called the servants 
to put beautiful garments on him, and made a feast of 
rejoicing over him, saying, " This my son was dead, and 
is alive again ; he was lost, and is found." 

So always, with unchanging love our Father's heart 
goes after those who separate themselves from him, 
watching for their return and ready to welcome them 
with love and pardon whenever they come back saying, 
" I have sinned." In just such royal fashion he clothes 
us anew and rejoices over us, letting all the past go, 
and giving us not only bread but honor. 

But I think the prodigal must always have been 
poorer because of the wasted years and the wasted sub- 
stance, and have wished he had '' come to himself" a 
great deal sooner. And I am sure it is more blessed 



THE LOST SON. 



143 



that a child should say to his heavenly Father, '' My 
Father, thou art the guide of my youth ; let me not 
depart from thee," than to go away into the far 
country and come back beggared of what might have 
been real treasure. 




144 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXXV. 

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. 

People came bringing young children to Jesus that he 
might touch them, and the disciples, instead of making 
way for them all to come, and smiling at the mothers 
and the babies in their arms, were displeased about it, 
and rebuked those who brought them. They wanted 
them to go away and not trouble Jesus; but they did 
not understand how full of love his heart was, and when 
Jesus saw what they were doing he was much displeased. 
He turned to them and spoke those blessed words that 
will never be forgotten : " Suffer the little children to 
come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the 
kingdom of God." 

He told his disciples, as he had told them before, that 
the only way to enter into God's kingdom was to be- 
come like a little child, loving and trustful and obedient, 
and then he stretched out his hands in welcome to the 
little ones. *' He took them up in his arms, and blessed 
them, laying his hands upon them." 

A precious invitation. It was a good thing for the 
old and the sick and the lame to come to Jesus and be 
made well, and go away and tell others about him. It 
was a good thing for the poor man who had been pos- 
sessed by a whole legion of devils to come to Jesus and 
have them cast out, and go away to tell his friends what 
great things the Lord had done for him. It was a good 
thing for the man who had been palsied for many years 




10 



146 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

to have Jesus heal him and say to him, '' Thy sins are 
forgiven thee ; " and for the man who was born bhnd to 
have his eyes opened and hear Jesus saying, '' Sin no 
more, lest a worse thing happen unto thee." But would 
it not have been better not to have gone on sinning and 
suffering for years until they had only a little while left 
in which to be happy in God's service ? Would it not 
have been better if, when they were little children, they 
had been brought to Jesus and received his blessing to 
go with them all the way and keep them from evil ? 
That is what those blessed children had whom Jesus 
took in his arms, and what every child on earth to-day 
may have if he will only go and ask it. 

Why did Jesus say of little children, '' Of such is the 
kingdom of heaven ? " Not because they are wise or 
strong or holy, but because these children rested in their 
mothers' arms, trusting them to take care of them, and 
never doubted the mother's love and wisdom, just as 
God's children must trust his love and strength and 
wisdom. 

It is not what we can do that makes us pleasing to 
God, but what we arc. 

Very soon after Jesus had spoken these words a young 
man came running to meet him who thought he could 
belong to God and earn a place in his kingdom just by 
doing good deeds. He had been well taught; he knew 
the commandments, and he told Jesus he had always 
been careful to keep them since he was a boy ; he thought 
he was about right, but he did not feel quite sure, and 
so he asked Jesus if there was anything more which he 
ought to do to be certain of having a part in God's king- 
dom by and by. He was very much in earnest, and was 
quite honest in what he asked, so that Mark tells us that 



THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. I47 

Jesus loved him when he looked at him. But Jesus could 
see that there was something wrong in his heart. He was 
not like a little child, ready to obey without question. He 
did not love the Lord with all his heart and his neigh- 
bor as himself, for when Jesus said, " One thing thou 
lackest : go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give 
to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : 
and come, take up the cross, and follow me," the 
young man was not ready to do it. He had great pos- 
sessions, and he wanted to keep them and have treasure 
in heaven also, so he went away sorrowful. 

It was not wrong to have great possessions, but it was 
wrong to care more for them than for treasure in heaven. 
Jesus did not promise to make everything easy and pleas- 
ant for him ; he said, " Take up the cross, and follow me," 
and he had said before that no one could be his disciple 
unless he was willing to give up and to suffer, if it was 
necessary, for others. 

So, when Jesus says to the children, " Come unto me," 
and holds out his arms to receive and bless them, he 
means that when they come they should leave behind 
them everything that hinders them from thinking most 
of his wishes and obeying instantly his voice. And as 
they grow older he wants them to keep on being like 
little children in love and trust and obedience, for 
only in that way can they truly belong to the kingdom 
of heaven. 

Are you not glad that it was Jesus himself who said, 
** Suffer little children to come unto me?" for when 
Jesus says " Come " it is like an invitation from the king 
himself, and nobody can forbid you. Only one person 
can keep you away, and that is yourself, if, when Jesus 
says *' Come," you do not say, *' Here am I." 



148 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 

. THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 

Did you ever think how many disciples Jesus would 
have had if all who heard his words had received and 
obeyed them ? Wherever he went there were always 
multitudes about him. They crowded into the house so 
that there was no room even about the door ; they 
thronged about him as he walked the streets and gave 
him no time so much as to eat ; they " pressed upon 
him to hear the word of God '' until he had to go into a 
little ship to find a place where he might speak to them. 
Four thousand of them had been listening for three 
days when he fed them with the few loaves and fishes, 
and again five thousand had followed on foot into the 
desert place where he fed them because he had compas- 
sion on tliem. " Great multitudes," the Bible says, fol- 
lowed him from Galilee into Judea; "great multitudes " 
were with him when he opened the eyes of the blind at 
Jericho; when he raised the widow's son at Nain ; when 
he spake the parable of the wedding guest ; when he 
cried, *' Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest ; " and " an innumerable 
multitude that trode one upon another" gathered about 
him when he talked about the folly of laying up treas- 
ures on earth and not being rich toward God. 

It was not a careless, scoffing multitude ; we are told 
that they "took him for a prophet;" "fear fell upon 
them ;" they " wondered and glorified God ; " they " re- 



THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 



149 



jolced for all the glorious things that were done byh 

they '' were very attentive to 

hear him;" they said, 'This 

is of a truth that prophet that 

should come into the world ; " 

and yet when Jesus looked at 

them he said, " Why call ye me 

Lord, Lord, and do not the 

things that I command you ? " 

It was of no use to listen, of 
no use to say, '^ These are beau- 
tiful words ; this is a great 
teacher sent from God," unless 
the words, like good seed, took 
root in the heart where they 
fell and brought forth fruit in 
the life. Every word that Jesus 
spoke was like good seed, and 
it fell into many hearts. Why 
did it not grow ? 

Jesus explained this to his 
disciples. 

He said it was just as it was 
when a man went out to sow 
grain. Some of the seed would 
fall on the hard soil of the little 
paths that in that country ran 
through the fields, and the birds 
would pick it up ; some would 
fall upon thin stony soil, and 
though it sprang up quickly the 
roots could not go down deep "^ome seeds fell by the w. 

1 , r 1 •, 1 •, AND THE BIRDS CAME AND 

enough to feed it, and so it voured them." 



im ; 




150 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



withered away ; some would fall where thorns and weeds 

had already filled the soil, and 
as they grew strong and tall 
they choked the wheat and 
killed it. 

So when Jesus, or his serv- 
ants who work for him, sow" 
in men's hearts the good seed 
of God's word, it does not 
grow unless the soil has been 
prepared for it. 

1. Some of those who hear 
do not even listen. The word 
is like the seed on the path- 
way, it does not get into their 
hearts at all. Satan keeps 
them busy with other thoughts, 
of work or business or amuse- 
ment, or he sets them to think- 
ing unkindly of others or criti- 
cising the one who brings God's 
message, until by and by, just 
as the path through the fields 
is continually trodden harder, 
their hearts grow harder, and 
nothing good can find root 
there. 

2. Some who hear do listen. 
They think it would be pleas- 
ant to be good, to be called 
God's children, to be at peace 
with him, and they say just as 
the Children of Israel sometimes 




SOME FELL IN STONY PLACES, AND 

BECAUSE THEY HAD NO ROOT THEY 

WITHERED AWAY." 



THE PARABLE OF THE SOWER. 



151 



did, "All that the Lord commands we 
it is what we are and not what 
we do that makes us God's 
children, and the good seed 
must send its roots down deep 
and find something to feed 
upon, or it cannot long grow. 
Goodness that is not fed by 
love and obedience is like a 
beautiful flower stuck in the 
ground without any root, that 
withers as soon as the sun 
shines hot upon it and is easily 
pulled up. 

3. Some who listen under- 
stand and mean to obey, but 
they do not put God's service 
first and make it their business 
to see that nothing in them or 
about them shall hinder their 
growth. They are full of care 
for other things, and instead 
of being fruitful Christians they 
are like the poor, feeble, half- 
starved grains of wheat that 
managed to live after a fashion 
among the thorns, but ripened 
no rich, golden ears for the 
harvest. Thus, as Christ ex- 
plains, '' he also that received 
seed among the thorns is he 
that heareth the word ; and 
the care of this world, and the 



will do." But 




\KU SOME FELL AMUKG THORNS: 
AND THE THORNS SPRUNG UP, AND 
CHOKED THEM." 



152 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh 

unfruitful." 

But always some of the good 
seed finds good soil and grows 
and brings forth fruit ; so the 
Master who sends it and the 
servant who sows it need not 
be discouraged. Some who 
hear have prepared their 
hearts, they listen attentively, 
they decide honestly, they 
watch against thorns and evil 
weeds, they keep the ground 
open to the sunshine and 
showers God sends ; and the 
seed, which has in it God's 
own life, fed and nourished by 
what it draws from this good 
soil, brings forth abundantly. 

" The field is the world," 
and as the weary, patient, 
loving Master looked that 
day over the multitude gath- 
ered about him, thinking 
sadly how little of the good 
seed he was scattering would 
ever grow in those hearts, so 
he looks to-day upon you and 
upon me. Does he see the 
trodden roadside, the shallow, 
rocky soil, the choking thorns, 
BUT OTHER FELL INTO GOOD Qr thc prcparcd ground ready 

GROUND, AND BKOUGHT FORTH r 1 • 1 -i 

FRUIT." lor the precious seed f 




HOW TO PRAY. 153 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 

HOW TO PRAY. 

If you were going to be admitted to the presence of 
a great king that you might ask him for things which he 
alone could give, you would like very much that the 
king's own son should tell )-ou how to go to his father, 
and just what to say to him. That was the way the dis- 
ciples felt about Jesus. They were all accustomed to 
pray ; some of them had been John's disciples, and he 
had taught them to pray ; but they saw how Jesus found 
strength and comfort in communing with his Father, 
how he often spent whole nights in prayer, and they 
wanted him to teach them, that they too might ask and 
receive as he did. So, one day, after Jesus had been 
praying, they said, '' Lord, teach us to pray." 

Jesus taught them a very short and simple prayer, 
which has ever since been called " the Lord's Prayer;" 
but he did not mean that they were always to use ex- 
actly those words. He only meant to teach us all how 
we should go to God, for what we should ask, and how 
sure we might be of receiving what we prayed for. 

I. To whom we pray. The first words of Jesus were, 
'' When ye pray, say, Father." In our hearts must be 
the child's love and trust and confidence appealing to 
the love and tenderness and wisdom of the Father. We 
cannot pray if we think only, of God as a great king and 
ruler to whom we owe obedience, and whose gifts we 
take with thankfulness. A king would not be pleased 



154 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

that his children should come to him in fear and trem- 
bling to ask for what they wanted, calling him *' Your 
Majesty ; " he would rather have them cling to his 
hands and nestle in his arms, calling him *' dear father," 
and asking without fear for what they wanted, as if they 
were sure of his love and had no doubt he would give 
them whatever was best. So the very first thing for us 
to learn is to say from the heart, " Father ! " as the child 
says it when, lost and tired and terrified, he catches 
sight of his father's face and springs to his arms, sure 
of safety and love and protection. 

II. When we have learned to feel toward God so that 
at every thought of him the heart cries " Father ! " we 
shall desire that everyone may know how good and dear 
he is, that they may love him also. This is the precious 
name we wish all the world to honor and hold sacred ; 
this is the kingdom which men enter by becoming as 
little children, and in which the Father's will is done 
because they trust in his love and let him direct all things 
for them. So we shall pray that this name may be hon- 
ored, this kingdom increased, this will become the will 
of all men ; and what we desire and pray for we shall 
work for in all possible ways. 

III. We are to pray for our daily bread, which includes 
all our daily needs — the food and raiment for which we 
are told to have no anxious care, the little things and 
the great things of which Jesus said, *' Your Father 
knoweth that ye have need of all these things." Does 
he not give them a place here even before our spiritual 
needs, and bid us ask for them day by day lest we might 
forget that these things also are in our Father's hands, 
and that what our own labor seems to bring us is still 
controlled by him who careth for us ? 



HOW TO PRAY, 155 

IV. We must pray for ourselves ; for the help we need 
to make us the children of our Father and keep us so. 
We cannot tell all our needs, but perhaps three things 
might include them all — forgiveness, guidance, deliver- 
ance ; so Jesus bade us pray, ''Forgive us our debts; 
lead us not into temptation ; deliver us from evil." 
** Forgive us our debts " means more than '' do not pun- 
ish us for our sins ; " it means take sin away from us ; 
remove from our hearts the spirit of evil, put within us 
the spirit of good ; and this spirit cannot dwell in us un- 
less we are ready to put away all anger and unkindness 
toward others and forgive as fully as we are forgiven. 

'' Lead us not into temptation " reminds us that no 
one is so strong as to be in no danger of falling, that we 
are to keep away from those places, avoid those com- 
panions, and let alone those things that are likely to 
tempt us to evil, for how can we honestly pray that our 
Father may lead us in safe paths if we choose for our- 
selves dangerous ones ? 

" Deliver us from evil " assures us that there is a 
power that is stronger than Satan and all his kingdom, 
and nothing can threaten us from which our Father can- 
not and will not deliver us. Do we believe that ? We 
know he can, but is it sure he zvill? Jesus says, "Ask 
and ye shall receive." Fie bids us remember what even 
friends and acquaintances will do for one another when 
they are asked ; he bids us remember how gladly and 
freely earthly parents give their children tlie things 
they ask for, and be sure that our Father, who is all 
love and goodness, will be more ready than they to grant 
our requests. He says, " Everyone who asketh, receiv- 
eth ; " but do we always get what we ask for ? Not al- 
ways, for often children ask for what the father knows 



156 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



would harm them ; but if we ask with the child's spirit, 
if when we pray we say '^ Father " from the heart, we shall 
receive the thing we desire or a better. An earthly par- 
ent would not mock his child by giving him in place of 
what he wanted something useless, like a stone, or harm- 
ful, like a scorpion ; much less will our Father answer 
our prayers by giving us what will not meet our needs 
or willdo us injury. 




J 



FORGIVENESS AND LOVE. I 5/ 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

FORGIVENESS AND LOVE. 

Among the multitudes that hstened to the words of 
Jesus were always two classes — those who came to criti- 
cise and find fault, and those who felt they needed help 
and came to find it. Those who sought help from sick- 
ness or from sin received it and gave in return love and 
gratitude. But the Pharisees, who thought themselves 
too wise to be taught and too holy to need forgiveness, 
were only filled with jealousy and hatred. They were 
always watching for proof that Jesus was not what he 
said he was, and they showed their contempt of him and 
his teachings by calling him " a friend of sinners." This 
name, by which they meant to dishonor Jesus, was one 
that he loved and sought. He came into the world to 
seek the lost that he might save them, and, though these 
proud Pharisees all needed his help, it was only those 
who felt that they were sinners whom he could save. 
This pitying Friend looked upon the sinful, suffering, 
untaught people with a heart full of compassion because 
they did not know how to escape from their sins, and he 
called out unto them, '^ Come unto me, all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 

One of those who stood by and heard this gracious 
offer was a Pharisee named Simon. He was not weary 
or heavy laden ; he thought he was very righteous ; but 
he was interested in what Jesus had been doing, and as 
his house was perhaps near by he asked him to come in 



158 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

and dine with him. The law of Moses taught him to be 
hospitable to strangers, but he did not care to show 
Jesus any honor lest he might be supposed to be one of 
his disciples. He did not greet him with a kiss or 
anoint his head with fragrant oil, as he would have done 
to an honored guest, or even call a servant to wash the 
dust from his feet when he laid off his sandals, as every- 
one did on entering a house. He gave him a place at 
his table, set food before him, but he had not made up 
his mind about Jesus. 

There were many among those to whom Jesus spoke 
that were not like Simon. One of them was a woman 
who was called a sinner because she not only had sin in 
her heart, like the proud Pharisees who despised her, but 
her outward life was sinful. Simon and his friends 
would have thought they were polluted if their garments 
even brushed against her in the street, but when she 
heard Jesus say, '' Come unto me, all ye that labor and 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," she believed 
the promise and said, " I will come." She followed to 
Simon's house, and, coming into the room where they 
were eating, reclining upon couches with their feet ex- 
tended behind them, she knelt at the feet of Jesus, kiss- 
ing them in token of her love and humility. The tears 
that dropped like rain upon them she wiped away with 
her long hair, and then anointed them with precious 
perfume. She was trying to express to this Friend of 
sinners her repentance and sorrow^ her love and faith 
and gratitude, but for some time Jesus did not seem to 
notice her. 

When he did speak it was to Simon, who sat think- 
ing, " After all, I was mistaken in supposing this man 
was a prophet ; he did some wonderful things, but if he 



l6o HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

really was a holy prophet he would know that this woman 
who is kissing his feet is a sinner." The love and holiness 
that wanted to help sinners was beyond Simon's under- 
standing, but he felt that, if Jesus was what he claimed to 
be, he ought to be able to read people's hearts, and he must 
have been astonished when Jesus read his heart and an- 
swered his thoughts just as if they had been spoken. 

He began by telling Simon a story of a man who had 
two debtors — one who owed him a small sum and one 
who owed ten times as much, but as neither of them had 
anything to pay he forgave them both, and he asked 
the Pharisee which one would love him most. Simon 
answered, " He, I suppose, to whom he forgave most," 
and Jesus said, ''Thou hast rightly judged." Then, 
at last, he turned to the woman and bade Simon look 
at her and at himself. Simon, who thought himself so 
good that God could have very little fault to find with 
him, felt no gratitude to one who offered to release him 
from his debt. He invited Jesus to his house, but he 
had neither shown hirn honor nor cared for his comfort. 
But this poor woman, who knew she was sinful and had 
nothing to pay, poured her tears and perfume upon the 
weary feet of this Friend who brought the blessed tid- 
ings, and kissed them in her love and humility. She 
loved much because she had been forgiven much, but 
those who feel little need of forgiveness feel little love. 

This tender Friend of sinners spoke directly to the 
woman herself, and said to her, ''Thy sins are forgiven 
thee ; thy faith hath saved thee ; go in peace." 

Faith brought forgiveness; forgiveness brought peace; 
and the promise which Jesus made was fulfilled. She 
came heavy laden, but in humility and repentance, and 
he took away her burden and gave her rest. 



THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. l6l 



CHAPTER XXXIX. 

THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. 

Jesus had been teaching his disciples that the riches 
and power and opportunities given to us here might be so 
wisely used as to be of greater value than just for this 
short life. Men might build beautiful houses, but they 
would soon have to leave them, and then they would be 
poor indeed if they had been so foolish as not to think 
of the home where the soul v/as going after it left the 
body behind it, if they had not laid up any treasures 
in heaven, or prepared themselves to live in the mansions 
there. He told them that they were God's stewards, 
and should be faithful in using his money. But while 
the publicans listened the Pharisees laughed at his 
teachings and despised them. They expected to have 
a place in heaven because they were Abraham's children 
and kept the law of Moses, and not because they were 
like God in spirit, and so fit to dwell with him. 

It was to these proud Pharisees that Jesus spoke 
this parable, this story of two men and two worlds. 
One of the men was rich ; he wore beautiful clothing, 
such as princes wear ; he lived in a palace and feasted 
every day. The other man was a beggar, his body 
covered with sores, and co helpless that he could 
only get some friends to lay him by the gates of the 
rich man's house, where he might share with the dogs 
the crumbs and scraps that were thrown away from the 
table or beg of the guests as they went in and out. 
U 



l62 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

The rich man was not disturbed to see this poor Lazarus 
lying there. He did not think at all of the many com- 
mands God had given to those who had abundance to 
care for the poor and share with them ; he went on feast- 
ing and enjoying his good things until one day Lazarus 
was gone. His poor, diseased, suffering body was left to 
be buried somewhere out of sight, but Lazarus himself 
had gone to another world. He did not go alone ; the 
angels came for him, so we know he must have been one 
of God's children; and they carried him to the company 
of God's children, where Abraham was, and he had a 
royal welcome and princely honor. I suppose all the 
pain and discomfort of his life in the body seemed no 
more to him than a bad dream does when you waken 
from it. 

Perhaps the rich man may have gone on feasting for 
a time, but soon he died also. His body was buried in 
a costly tomb ; somebody else took his palace and his 
riches and his princely garments, and he too came into 
that other world, leaving all behind him, as if he had been 
only a beggar. He was a beggar now, because he had 
laid up treasure for himself and was not rich toward God. 
He had no friends in heaven to receive him there ; he was 
not like the people there, and was not fit to live with them. 
Instead of waking in happiness, as Lazarus did, he waked 
in misery. All he had loved and lived for was gone; a 
great gulf separated him from those who had found their 
happiness in serving God and man ; his character was fixed 
and it was too late to change. Now, instead of despising 
Lazarus, he envied him, and would gladly have taken help 
and comfort from him, but Lazarus could not help him. 
Abraham could not help him. It would not even have 
done any good if Lazarus, or the rich man himself, l:"-d 



THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. 163 

gone back to the other world and told other foolish 
people what an awful mistake they were making in liv- 
ing for themselves and not heeding God's words, ''Lay 
not up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for 
yourselves treasures in heaven;" they would not have 
listened. 

In this story one man was very rich and the other 
very poor, but the lesson is for us all, whether we have 
great riches or not. We have no right to live just for 
self, to think only of our bodies, to turn away from those 
whom we might help and comfort. We are just as much 
bound to share our little as the rich man was to share 
his abundance. 

We need not suppose that in this story Jesus meant 
to tell us exactly what we should find in that other world, 
but some things we may surely know he meant to teach us : 

1. There is another world to which we go when we 
leave our bodies; the beggar went there when he died, 
and Abraham was still there after thousands of years. 

2. In that world is both happiness and misery, but 
widely separated from each other and fixed beyond any 
change. 

3. Our condition there depends upon our character 
and conduct here ; we make our own place and portion 
and fix our own companionships. 

4. In this world we may be honored, rich, and prosper- 
ous, yet find ourselves poor, friendless, and miserable 
when we come to the other ; and so in this world we 
may be sick and friendless and unfortunate, yet find a 
place and a mansion waiting for us in our Father's 
house. We do not fail because we are rich, nor succeed 
because we are poor ; we are condemned because we live 
for self, and crowned because we live for God, 



164 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XL. 

SORROW AT BETHANY. 

About two miles from Jerusalem was a' little village 
where Jesus loved to go. This village was called Beth- 
any, and in one of its pleasant homes lived three of the 
Lord's dear friends, Martha and Mary and their 
brother Lazarus. Martha seems to have been the eldest, 
and probably Lazarus was the youngest. They were 
very happy together, and were always glad to welcome 
Jesus to their home, to give him the best of everything, 
and to listen to the precious words he spoke. They all 
loved Jesus, and the Bible tells us, "Jesus loved Martha 
and her sister and Lazarus." But he could not stay and 
rest with these friends, he went about weary and hun- 
gry, doing his blessed work and trying to help those who 
persecuted and hated him. 

Could any trouble or sorrow come to those whom 
Jesus loved so well? Yes; trouble came to them just as 
it comes now to everyone. Jesus told his disciples, '' Li 
the world ye shall have tribulation, but in me ye shall 
have peace." Trouble came to the home in Bethany. 
Lazarus fell sick and Jesus was far away in the wilder- 
ness beyond Jordan teaching great multitudes who came 
to hear him and healing them of their diseases. 

The sisters of Lazarus knew where to go in trouble. 
They sent a message to Jesus to tell him about it. They 
did not say, " Lord, come quickly, for Lazarus is sick, 
and we want you to heal him," They sent just such a 




JESUS IN ikili HOME AT UETHANY 



1 66 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

message as you would send to your dear mother. They 
sent word, " Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick," 
as if they knew they did not need to ask for anything 
because this loving Friend would surely do the best he 
could for them. 

Jesus said, " This sickness is not unto death, but for 
the glory of God." And the messenger supposed he 
meant that Lazarus should not die. But when he got 
back to Bethany he found that Lazarus was already 
dead. His body was wrapped in graveclothes and laid 
away in a tomb cut like a cave in the rocks. Mary and 
Martha were weeping and saying, " O, if Jesus had only 
been here our brother would not have died." When the 
messenger told them what Jesus had said they did 
not understand it, but they kept the words in their 
hearts and wondered if it could be possible that even yet 
their brother might be given back to them. So they 
waited and wept and wondered for four long days, and 
still Jesus did not come. 

Had Jesus forgotten his friends? Not a minute. He 
saw all that happened to them, and his loving heart ached 
for them, but he knew just the right time to help them. 
He waited two days in the wilderness, going on with his 
daily work. Then he said to his disciples, " Our friend 
Lazarus is fallen asleep." Jesus meant the sleep of 
death ; but the disciples thought he meant taking rest 
in sleep, so they answered, ^' Lord, if he is fallen asleep 
he will recover." 

So Jesus told them plainly, " Lazarus is dead, and I 
am glad for your sakes I was not there, so that ye may 
believe. Let us go unto him." 

Jesus had come away into the desert because the Jews 
wanted to kill him ; and now when the disciples heard 



SORROW AT BETHANY. 167 

him say, *' Let us go into Judea again," they said, 
" Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and 
goest thou thither again? " But Thomas, one of the dis- 
ciples, was willing to go with Jesus into any danger; so 
he turned to his companions and said, '* Let us also go, 
that we- may die with him." Then they set out on the 
way back to" Bethany. It took them more than two 
days to get there, and all the way the disciples must 
have been thinking of what Jesus had said, " Our friend 
Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awake him out of 
his sleep." Did he really mean to call this dead man 
back to life after so many days ? Surely, if he did, even 
the scribes and Pharisees must believe on him, and every- 
one would see that he was indeed the Son of God. 

Wherever Jesus went a multitude followed him, and 
now as he came toward Bethany the tidings went before, 
" Jesus is coming! " and people went out to meet him 
and carried out their sick to be healed. The tidings 
came to Mary and Martha as they sat weeping in the 
house with their friends about them. Mary only thought, 
** Ah, it is too late now ! Lazarus has been buried four 
days." And so she sat still in the house. But Martha 
remembered those strange words spoken to the messen- 
ger, *' This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory 
of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." 
Who could tell what Jesus would even yet do? At 
least she would go and meet him. So she went out of 
the town to meet Jesus, for he had not yet come in, and 
told him all her sorrow and all her distress because the 
Jews had driven him away so that he could not be there 
to save her brother. Was it really too late for Jesus to 
help ? 



68 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

SORROW TURNED INTO JOY. 

Let us look again into the home in Bethany, whose 
joy had all been turned into sorrow because one of its 
dear ones was dead. Some one, perhaps the very mes- 
senger whom the sisters sent to tell Jesus that Lazarus 
was sick, brought word that at last their friend was coming. 
" Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was com- 
ing, went and met him ; but Mary sat still in the house." 

Jesus had not yet come to the town, and when Martha 
met him she said, " Lord, if thou hadst been here my 
brother had not died. And I know that even now, what- 
soever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee." Can 
you think what she wanted him to ask of God ? Per- 
haps she did not really know. She only wanted him to 
know that even now she loved and trusted him and be- 
lieved in his divine power. Jesus did not tell Martha he 
was going to raise her brother from the dead, but he 
said very comforting words to her. He bade her remem- 
ber that some day all who sleep shall rise again from the 
dead ; that those who believe in him can never really die, 
for even. when the body dies the soul that has Jesus 
Christ within it goes on living. Martha was comforted. 
She said to Jesus, " I believe that thou art the Christ," 
and then she hurried back to the house to call Mary. 
Probably Jesus had said, " Where is Mary ? " for we 
must not suppose that every word which they spoke is 
written down. 



SORROW TURNED INTO JOY. 169 

Martha came into the house and whispered to lier 
sister, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee," and 
as soon as Mary heard that she arose quickly and went 
to Jesus. All her friends who had come to comfort her 
followed after her, thinking she was going to the grave to 
weep there ; so they all came together to Jesus, and Mary 
fell down weeping at his feet. Jesus was troubled at the 
sight of her sorrow. He loved Lazarus also, and he, too, 
wept with the others, and groaned aloud. He asked 
them to take him to the grave, and they all went there. 
It was a cave, and a stone was rolled up against it for a 
door. The Jews watched J esus, and while some said, 
'* How he loved Lazarus ! " others said, '' But why did he 
let him die? He opened the eyes of the man that was 
born blind ; could he not have caused that even this man 
should not die?" 

Then Jesus bade them take away the stone, but at 
first Martha was not willing. Her brother had been 
dead four days, and she knew the dear face she loved so 
much would be changed. The body had begun to decay 
and go back to dust again, now that the soul had left it. 
But, when Jesus had reminded her that he had promised 
if she would only believe she should see the glory of God, 
she remembered the words which the messenger brought 
back to her, "This sickness is not unto death, but for 
the glory of God." Then they rolled away the stone. 

Think of them standing there by the open door of the 
grave in the rock ! Mary and Martha clinging to each 
other, scarcely daring to look into that dark cave ; the 
Jews watching Jesus with curious eyes, and the blessed 
Master himself forgetting all that were about him, and 
lifting his eyes toward heaven as if he looked right into 
the face of the Father to whom he spoke. All the time 



170 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

» 

he must have been asking, " Let this man's soul come 
back to him again," and now he said aloud, " Father, 
I thank thee that thou hast heard me." 

When he had given thanks to God for hearing his 
prayer, he called with a loud voice, '' Lazarus, come 
forth ! " He called aloud so that everyone might hear 
and know who gave such a strange command ; but if he 
had whispered ever so softly Lazarus would have heard 
and obeyed. Jesus once said the day would come when 
all that were in the graves should hear his voice, but the 
Jews did not understand or believe him. Now, while 
they are all watching that dark cave, what do they see ? 
They see something moving in the darkness ; they see 
the dead man, lying there so still and white, wrapped 
about with graveclothes, rise up in his place and come 
forth before them all. It is really Lazarus, the friend 
they laid in the grave four days ago. He looks around 
as if he hardly knew what it all meant ; and Mary and 
Martha can hardly believe that they have their dear 
brother alive again. At first they are all so bewildered 
that they do not know what to do, and Jesus has to tell 
them to loose Lazarus from the bands that are fastened 
about his hands and feet. 

I am sure Jesus went home with them to Bethany 
and rejoiced with them over the joyful ending of their 
sorrow; for our loving Lord, who wept with those who 
wept, was ready also to share the joy and gladness of 
those who were happy, just as to-day we can go to him, 
in sad days or glad ones, and be sure of his loving sym- 
pathy. Why does Jesus not raise all our dear ones from 
the dead, and so turn the sorrow of all who mourn into 
joy ? Because when he takes us to be with him that is 
far better than to go on living here ; and it would be a 



SORROW TURNED INTO JOY. 



171 



sorrowful thing for us to come back to earth after we 
have lived in our beautiful heavenly home. Jesus raised 
Lazarus to show that' he really had power over death, so 
that his children might not fear to trust him and so that 
all men might believe on him. But now that Jesus him- 
self has died and risen from the grave, we know that 
because he lives we shall live also. Living or dying, we 
belong to him, and he says of all that belong to him he 
will not lose one, but will raise them up at the last day. 




1/2 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

JESUS AND ZACCHEUS. 

Zaccheus was a rich man and he was a Jew, but his 
own people despised and hated him. They despised him 
because he had gone into the service of their conquer- 
ors and made it his business to collect the tax money 
which these conquerors made them pay ; they hated him 
because his riches had all been taken out of them. A 
publican or taxgatherer had great temptation to be 
unjust and dishonest, and no one expected anything 
else of him ; he was despised as a thief and a robber, 
and men who thought themselves honorable would have 
nothing to do with him. But this man heard of Jesus, 
the wonderful teacher whose power and wisdom were so 
great that all the people were astonished at them, yet 
who was not ashamed to talk to publicans and own them, 
for friends and disciples. He had even said that the 
prayer of a publican might be more acceptable to God 
than that of a proud Pharisee, and Zaccheus wanted to 
see the man who dared to say that. He heard that 
Jesus was coming to Jericho, where he lived, and he went 
out to see him as he entered the city. He did not ex- 
pect to speak to him, or that Jesus would notice him ; 
he wanted to see how he looked, and when he found he 
could not get near enough because of the great crowd 
he ran on before and climbed up into a tree, where he 
could see better. 

Zaccheus only wanted to know more about Jesus, but 




ZACCHKUS. 
And he run betort and climbed up into a sycamore Uee U) see him, 



1/4 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

Jesus already knew Zaccheus. He knew his name and 
all about him ; and while Zaccheus was looking at him 
Jesus looked up, called him by name, and bade him 
make haste and come down because he wished to go to 
his house. Jesus knows everyone that seeks to find him ; 
he was thinking about them before they thought about 
him, he knows them better than their best friends do; 
he thinks of them by name, he speaks to them by name. 
He does not say, " Here is a great sinner who ought to 
be saved," but, '^ Here is a lost one whom I came to 
save. Zaccheus ! John ! Mary ! make haste and come to 
me ; I am coming to see you." 

The invitation came from Jesus. He invited Zaccheus 
to receive him into his house, and the man received him 
joyfully. It did not trouble him at all that the people 
were displeased ; Jesus had come to him and he did not 
care about anything else. The invitation always comes 
first from Jesus ; he always comes in as soon as we are 
ready to receive and welcome him. 

It was not just into his house that Zaccheus received 
Jesus ; he received him into his heart, into his life, to be 
his ruler and master. He must have heard of his teach- 
ings, for he understood that to follow Jesus meant a 
great deal. 

Zaccheus did not wait to see how he should feel 
to-morrow. He stood up at the feast before his family 
and his friends and the people who were looking on, and 
called Jesus Lord, telling him that he was ashamed of 
his past life and meant to live very differently in the 
future. He did not say, " Sometime I mean to be gener- 
ous and give to the poor, and sometime I will pay back 
to those whom I have wronged the money that I have 
unjustly taken," He meant to begin then, from that 



JESUS AND ZACCHEUS. 1/5 

very minute, to be generous and to be honest, and so 
he says, " The half of my goods I give to the poor," / 
do it noiv ; "and whatever I have taken wrongfully I re- 
store it fourfold," I do it now. 

The publican had received Jesus and taken up his 
service, and now Jesus receives Zaccheus. He does not 
wait to try him to see if he will hold out, if he really 
will do as he says ; he takes him that he may help him, 
he takes him that he may teach him, he takes him that 
he may strengthen him against his own selfishness and 
greed and the force of evil habit and keep him up to the 
purpose of that hour. He says, " This day is salvation 
come to this house," but it is a salvation that Zaccheus 
will have to work out in spite of temptation and diffi- 
culty. He is a new man in purpose, he must become a 
new man in habit. 

The lost need not fear that they shall seek Jesus with- 
out finding him ; they might miss the way, but Jesus can- 
not, and he is seeking them. He came to seek them, 
to seek all the lost, and he only seeks that he may save. 
It is the same sweet story always, the shepherd seeking 
the lost sheep, but when he finds it it is lost no longer, 
it is the sheep that zvas lost but now is found, that is 
loved, that is carried tenderly, that is rejoiced over. 




176 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

THE GREAT SUPPER. 

Jesus did not go to feasts for idle pleasure. 
Whether he was sitting with his disciples by the shores 
of the Sea of Galilee and eating fish broiled upon the 
coals, or reclining on a couch at the table of some rich 
Pharisee, always he was thinking of hi5 Father's business, 
and seeking to teach his hearers the great truths of his 
kingdom. In the fourteenth chapter of Luke we find him 
again, on a Sabbath day, sitting at meat in the house of a 
Pharisee, and teaching by his acts and his words mercy, 
humility, and unselfish generosity. He taught mercy, by 
stopping as he went into the house to heal the man with 
the dropsy ; Jmniility, by telling those who were eagerly 
striving for the best and most honorable seats at the ta- 
ble that the truest honors came by not seeking the best 
things for ourselves ; unselfishness, by bidding them 
make their feasts for the poor, who really needed them, 
rather than the rich, who could return their favors. 
They might not be repaid in this life, but by and by God 
would exalt those w4io had humbled themselves, and 
those who had cared for his poor should be welcomed to 
feast with him in his kingdom above. 

The people who sat at meat with him thought these 
were wise words. One of the guests said, '' Yes, that 
will be a great reward ; it will be a blessed thing to eat 
bread in the kingdom of God." 

As Jesus hqard this he may perhaps have thought, 



tHE GREAT SUPPER. 1^7; 

"That is what all these guests would say; everybody 
thinks it would be a blessed thing to be admitted into 
heaven, and everyone means to go there, but how many 
of you will fail ! " 

So, turning to the guest who had spoken, he told him 
a parable to show them all how foolishly people act 
about the blessedness God offers them. He told them 
the story of a great supper given by a rich man, in 
which the guests behaved just as they themselves were 
doing about the invitation God sends to his feast. VVe 
all know the story (Luke xiv, 16-24) ; let us see if we can 
see why this man was like our Father, and the men who 
treated his invitation so carelessly like the people to 
whom Jesus spoke, and perhaps like some of us. 

1. It was a great supper, and many were invited. Sc 
we are told that our Father's kingdom was prepared for 
us from the foundation of the world ; that it has never 
even entered into our thoughts to imagine such wonders 
and delights as await us there. And to this feast every- 
one is invited ; whosoever will may come. 

2. The guests who were invited meant to come ; they 
did not refuse the invitation. So, when we hear and read 
about this kingdom and this feast, we all mean to be 
there. We all think it would be blessed to have a place 
in heaven, and we do not mean to be shut out. 

3. The guests busied themselves about other things — 
about their farms and their business and their families. 
These things were all right and proper, but they forgot 
their invitation, and when they were sent for they were 
not ready. So we forget our Father's invitation because 
we are so busy with the things of this life. Instead of 
saying, " I must live so as to be ready any minute," our 
thoughts and our plans are all about our own business. 

12 



178 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



4. The guests all had excuses for not being ready, and 
they thought they were very good excuses. They did 
not wish to stay away altogether, but to be excused for 
this time, until it was more convenient. So we make a 
great many excuses for not being ready just yet when 
our Father sends his servants to bid us come. Our 
Father is much more forgiving than the man in the 
story was. His guests were sent for but once, and when 
the}^ made excuses he was angry, and said, *' They 
shall none of them taste of my supper ; " but God sends, 
again and again, messenger after messenger, to say, 
'' Come, for all things are now ready." 

5. The guests who refused to come were shut out, 
and the good things which they had slighted were given 
to others. So God may leave us to our business and 
our pleasure and our eager pursuit of riches and honor, 
and reveal to others the precious things which we neg- 
lect and slight. Others m.ay sit down to the feast and 
we be shut out ; turning away from heavenly bread we 
may be left to feed on husks. 




SLAVES OF SIN. 179 



w 



CHAPTER XLIV. 

SLAVES OF SIN. 

Once when Jesus was talking to some of the people 

ho said they wished to be his disciples he told them 
that the way to be his disciples indeed was not just to 
follow him about and listen to his words, but to love to 
do his commandments and to go on day after day try- 
ing to learn his will, so that they might do it always in 
their hearts and in their lives. He told them that if 
they served him that way they would grow wiser and 
happier every day as they understood more about truth, 
and that instead of being bond servants — that is, servants 
that wear chains — they should be free and serve with 
glad hearts. 

The Jews did not like to be called bond servants, or 
slaves ; they answered Jesus very angrily, and said, *' We 
never were slaves ; why do you talk about making us 
free ? " 

But Jesus said, " Whosoever committeth sin is the 
servant of sin ; " that is, a slave who does just what his 
master bids him, and who cannot get away from his 
service. Would you be willing to be a slave to such a 
master as sin ? Do you think any one would be so fool- 
ish as to say, '' Now I am going to take sin for my mas- 
ter ; I will promise to do as Satan bids me, and I will let 
my master fasten a chain about me so that I cannot get 
away ? " No one would make such a promise. Yet 
Satan has a great many servants who often wish and try 



l8o HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

to get away, but unless God helps them to get free they 
never can make their escape. How did they come to be 
his slaves? 

Almost always it was because they did not wish to 
have any master, but to live just to please themselves. 
The Bible says to us, " Ye are not your own : ye are 
bought with a price," and, " One is your master, even 
Christ." If we go to this blessed Master and ask him 
to take us into his service, and direct us every minute of 
our lives, to keep us from temptation, and deliver us 
from the power of Satan so that we may not fall into 
any of his snares, then we shall have a Master whose 
service will be full of delight, a Master who says to 
those who accept him, " I will not call you servants, but 
friends ; you need not be slaves, but my own dear chil- 
dren, and I will keep you so that the wicked one shall 
not touch you." 

But some foolish people think they can take care of 
themselves, and not serve anyone. They do not mean 
to be the slaves of Satan, and Satan does not tell them 
he is going to make them his slaves. He goes to work 
very carefully to set a trap for them. I saw a cruel 
boy once who had a mouse with a string tied to its leg. 
He would let it run a little way, but just as the poor 
thing thought it was free the string would stop it, until 
a lady cut the string and the little prisoner ran into his 
hole. The mouse went into a trap to get something that 
smelled good and tasted good, and so it was cauglit 
and held. 

Can you think of some of the traps that Satan sets for 
people so that he may put his chains on them and make 
them his servants? Drunkenness is a sin, and the 
drunkard is its servant. He did not mean to be a rag- 



SLAVES OF SIN. l8l 

ged, red-faced, furious man, staggering along the street, 
but when he was a httle boy, perhaps, he began by 
drinking cider because he loved it, and then beer be- 
cause he wanted to do as men did, and wine because he 
thought it was gentlemanly to do so, and then whisky 
and brandy because he thought it made him strong to 
work, until he became such a slave to this sin that he 
could not get away from it. 

Anger is a sin that has a great many servants. They 
begin with angry feelings, and then speak angry words 
and make angry threats, until they come to angry blows 
and cruel, wicked deeds. 

We could make a long, black list of ugly sins that 
have many servants, such as evil-speaking and deceit 
and disobedience, but the thing for us to remember is 
this: every time we do an unkind or dishonest or dis- 
obedient act, or speak an angry, untruthful, envious, im- 
pure word, or even think a wrong thought, we are making 
ourselves the servants of these bad masters. The only 
way to be free from them is to take Jesus for our Mas- 
ter and give him our loving service. We have many 
little servants ourselves. Our hands, our feet, our lips, 
our eyes, our ears are all servants that miust do as we 
bid them ; so if we choose Jesus Christ for our Master 
we must see that all our servants obey him and do his 
will. 

" In the morning I will pray, 
Help me serve thee, Lord, to-day ! 
Lips and tongue and hands and feet 
Find thy service pure and sweet ; 
And thy loving presence shine 
Ever in this heart of mine." 



1 82 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XLV. 

ENTERING THE KINGDOM. 

Entering the kingdom of God does not mean going 
to heaven. In one sense everyone is in God's kingdom, 
because this world and all other worlds belong to him ; 
but Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God 
is within you," and when he talked about entering that 
kingdom he meant having the peace and love of God 
reign in the heart, and having no wish or will but to be 
obedient to him. Jesus said once, " I am the way," and 
bade all who would enter in walk in his footsteps ; he 
said, " I am the door," and bade all who would enter 
come to him ; and when we come he tells us that the 
very first step is to become humble and teachable and 
obedient ; that is the only way to have the peace of 
God enter our hearts and make them, a part of his 
kingdom. 

That which fits us to enter this kingdom is not good- 
ness, but humility; not knowledge, but teachableness; 
not ability to choose, but willingness to be led ; not wis- 
dom to understand all God does, but readiness to do all 
he says. 

This is what Jesus taught, and, if we remember it, we 
can understand why he welcomed the little children and 
said the kingdom of heaven was of such as they. For 
the qualities we wish most to see in our children, the 
things which make them lovely as children, are just 
these qualities which God wishes to see in his children — 




THE CHILD MODEL. 
An(J he took ^ child an4 set him in the midst of them,' 



1 84 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

qualities which find open soil in a child's heart, but 
which, sometimes, are very hard to plant when pride and 
worldly wisdom, self-confidence, and the cares of this life 
have taken such deep root that they cannot easily be 
pulled up. Three things, then, we may learn about 
children and the kingdom of heaven : 

1. Children may most easily enter it. They have less 
to overcome of evil habit ; less hindrances in the cares 
and ambitions of life, and just because they are children 
a child's life of obedience, faith, and trust is as natural 
toward their heavenly Father as toward their earthly 
parents. 

2. Parents should bring their children. When Jesus 
said, " Suffer them to come," he spoke of babes, that 
must be brought by others; and so, if we would have 
our children enter his kingdom, we ourselves must do 
our part in bringing them for the divine blessing. We 
must ask for their helplessness the Master's touch; we 
must bring them to him by example, by instruction, by 
training ; we must say to them from their earliest years, 
'' You are the Lord's ; you belong to him ; I gave you to 
him, and I dare not do anything in your training which 
he would not approve." 

3. " Forbid them not." It is not always in words of 
rebuke that children are forbidden to come to Jesus ; 
many a disciple has stood in the way of his own cold, 
unloving, mistaken interpretation of the Master's will 
and character. 

We read, " If a man love not his brother whom he has 
seen, how shall he love God, whom he hath not seen ? " 
and how shall the child be drawn to his heavenly Fa- 
ther, if those who say they dwell in him show so little of 
his spirit ? To many a child the awful Eye, seeing in 



ENTERING THE KINGDOM. 1 85 

darkness, watchful of the thoughts of the hearts, is a 
reahty before which he hides and shudders, while the 
tender love, the unwearied care, the ready and perfect 
forgiveness, are only the vaguest of beliefs. He never 
thinks of God as on his side, against the devil, against 
himself, the lower self of which even children are con- 
scious ; he thinks of God as his judge, not as his helper. 
We do not forbid, but we hinder, or we fail to help. 

The way the child enters is the only way ; the rich 
young ruler failed because it v/as too hard for him to re- 
ceive the kingdom of God as a little child. He wanted to 
win the blessedness of God's kingdom in heaven without 
belonging to it here upon earth. He was accustomed 
to rule, he could not become an obedient follower ; he 
loved honor and comfort, he could not face contempt 
and poverty; he had great treasure here, he could not 
let it go for treasure in heaven. We do not go to Jesus 
simply to have our sins forgiven and be let into heaven 
at last ; we go to him for power to grow into his likeness, 
for help to overcome evil, to be lifted up that we may 
lift up others ; and we cannot begin too young. 

It was not to the children, but to the timid mothers 
and the hindering disciples, that Jesus spoke ; and it is 
to fathers and mothers and teachers that I should like to 
press home the command, '' Suffer the little children to 
come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is'' (not 
may be) *' the kingdom of heaven." 



1 86 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 

CARELESS HEARERS. 

When we read of the miracles of our Lord Jesus we 
feel sure that if we had lived in Capernaum and seen him 
heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, and raise the 
dead we should have been ready at once to believe on 
him and become his disciples. But to be a disciple of 
Jesus Christ means to repent of sin, to forsake all evil 
ways, to trust in him and take him for our leader and 
guide. It is obeying the words of Jesus that makes us 
his disciples ; and the people who followed him about 
or gathered in crowds to see his mighty deeds wanted 
only to see a wonderful sight or to have their bodies 
made well ; they did not care about being cleansed from 
sin. 

So in the cities where the most of the mighty works of 
Jesus were done, there were very few who really repented 
of their sins. Jesus was very patient with them ; he went 
on preaching and teaching and healing ; but one day, 
the Bible says, he upbraided them because they did not 
repent. He told them they would be punished for not 
obeying the word that was sent to them. He told them 
that the people of Tyre and Sidon, and the people of 
Sodom, whom God had destroyed for their great wicked- 
ness, were better than they were, because they had not 
been taught so well or known so much about the right 
way. And he told them the day would come when they 
too should be destroyed, when their cities would be 



CARELESS HEARERS. 



87 



broken down and ruined, so that men should not know 
where the city of Capernaum used to be. 

Jesus did not speak these words of warning for the 
people of his day alone. He meant us all to understand 
that we must give account to God Cor all the messages 
he has sent to us and everything that might have helped 
us to be better. We have preachers and teachers and 
churches and Sunday schools and Bibles and books and 




RUINS OF A CITY SUPPOSED TO BE CAPERNAUM. 



papers, but very often we only use them to amuse and 
please and entertain us, and forget all about repenting of 
our sins and bearing fruit for God. When we do this we 
are just like the people of Capernaum, who only wanted 
to see the miracles, and did not care to obey the com- 
mands of Christ. There will come a day when God will 
say to us, '' Did you repent ? Did you try to obey my 
words? When I gave you so much did you share it with 
others, and was your life so beautiful as to lead others 
to honor me V 



l88 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

But can we understand what God wishes us to do? 
How can children be wise enough to understand the 
things of God and find the way to him ? In this very 
passage Jesus tells us he thanks God that he has chosen 
to teach these things to his little ones ; that what the 
wisest men could never find out by their own wisdom 
God himself will show to everyone who really desires 
to know his will. The Lord Jesus came and lived on 
earth on purpose that by knowing him we might under- 
stand God and learn how to please him. To everyone 
who wishes to get rid of sin, he says, " Come unto ine^ 

No one is happy, no one is really at rest, whose sins 
are not forgiven. In heathen countries people often put 
themselves to cruel tortures to try and atone for sin. 
TJie wrong things they have done are like a heavy burden, 
and they cannot get rid of the burden. But Jesus says, 
" Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, 
and I will give you rest." That is the way for everyone 
to find rest — to go to Jesus for pardon and peace. 

And when he has taken the burden of sin away, so that 
we are no more Satan's slaves, but God's happy chil- 
dren, he says to us, " Take my yoke upon you and learn 
of me." Then, instead of carrying our heavy burden, 
we are to help the Lord Jesus carry his burdens, and 
work with him to save others. He will teach us how to 
do it ; he will teach us how to love it, for his service is 
not hard. He says himself, " My yoke is easy and my 
burden is light;" and those who take it find rest to 
their souls. But we must not forget that he says; 
'* Learn of me," and ask him every day to teach us to be 
like him, that we may be of those who are blest for do- 
ing our Father's commandments, and not punished, like 
the people of Capernaum, for only seeing and hearing. 



THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 

THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 

Do you remember what the Pharisees did to the blind 
man whose eyes Jesus had opened? They said to him, 
'* We will not have you in our church if you say Jesus is 
the Son of God. You must not listen to his words or 
be taught by him." And because the man said of Jesus, 
''Surely he must be from God or he could not do such 
miracles," they cast him out of their church. They 
called themselves shepherds, w^hose business it was to 
lead the people and take care of them, as a shepherd 
cares for his sheep. But Jesus said, ''You are more like 
robbers than shepherds ; you do not really care for the 
sheep or protect them from trouble and danger. If 
you loved them as a good shepherd loves his sheep you 
would not turn them out to take care of themselves as 
you do this poor man ; you would be ready to lay down 
your lives to protect them." 

These Pharisees wxre bad shepherds ; they would not 
follow Jesus themselves or allow the people to follow 
him. Paul and John and the disciples who really loved 
Jesus were good shepherds, who wanted to lead every- 
body into the blessed flock of their Master. But Jesus 
himself is the greatest and best shepherd ; so much 
better and more loving than any other that he is called 
the Good Shepherd. He chose that name himself. In- 
stead of saying, '* I am your King, whom you must all 
obey," or, " I am your Master, whom you must all serve," 



the: G00t3 SHEPHERD. iQt 

he said, '' I am the good shepherd : the good shepherd 
giveth his Ufe for the sheep." 

In that country there were great flocks of sheep that 
went out to feed upon the mountain sides and in the 
green valleys by the httle brooks. At night they were 
shut up safely in the folds, and in the morning the shep- 
herd opened the door and called them out. The sheep 
knew their own shepherd's voice, and they followed 
wherever he led them to the green pastures and by the 
cool waters. All day the shepherd watched, that no wild 
beast might harm them and no robber carry them away. 
He knew every sheep, and if any careless one got 
lost he would go and search for it till he found it. If 
any sheep were sick, or any little lamb too weak and 
tired to keep up with the rest, the good shepherd took 
it in his arms and carried it. This was the very country 
where David watched his father's sheep, when he was a 
little shepherd lad, and where he boldly slew the lion 
and the bear that came to seize a lamb from his flock. 
The people knew all about good shepherds and what 
care they ought to take of the sheep ; but we can under- 
stand also what Jesus meant when he said, '' I am the 
good Shepherd." 

See how many beautiful things this good Shepherd 
says about himself: 

" I know my sheep." He knows every one of them, 
no matter how small or weak. He knows you just as 
your mother would know you if you were with a thou- 
sand other children. 

'* I am known of mine." Just as even a little baby 
that cannot speak a word knows its own mother, not be- 
cause of wisdom, but because of love in its heart. 

The good Shepherd " calls his sheep by name," and 



192 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

they " hear his voice " and " follow him." Jesus does 
not speak to them like a stranger, and say, " Come, 
children, come, follow me." He calls you by name. He 
says, "Come, Mary! come, Henry! follow me." 

The good Shepherd '' leads his sheep." He tells 
them where to go and what to do, and he himself goes 
before. 

" He feeds his sheep." He gives them food for their 
souls, so that they may grow strong and wise. 

" He protects them from enemies." He says he will 
keep every one of them so that Satan may not touch 
them, and that no one is strong enough to snatch them 
out of his hand. 

" He loves all his sheep." Wherever they are, in 
Christian lands and in heathen lands; and just as the 
shepherd goes to hunt up the sheep that are lost in the 
wilderness, and never rests till he brings them home, so 
this loving Shepherd seeks for all his children till he 
brings them into his safe and happy flock. 

Last of all, and greatest of all, this good Shepherd 
" lay down his life for his sheep " when he died to save 
them from their sins ; but he took it again at his glorious 
resurrection, that they need not fear even death, since 
their Shepherd would go with them through its shadow. 

Why does the good Shepherd so care for and guard 
his flock? Jesus tells us that also. Because they are 
his own. They belong to him. You belong to him. 
He bought you with a great price, even his own precious 
blood, and he wants you to listen to his voice and follow 
him that he may bring you safely home. Then you will 
see his face and understand how true it was that he was 
always by your side, helping you to do right, glad when 
you were good, and sorry when you did wrong. 



Words of warning. 193 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

WORDS OF WARNING. 

The closing passages (Matt, vii, 13-27) of the Sermon 
on the Mount are heavy with warnings. 

Two ways. The Lord Jesus did not wish us to think we 
could be the children of God and walk in the way to 
heaven without being in earnest about it. He said there 
were two ways to live in this world. One was like a broad, 
easy road with a wide gate leading into it, and a great 
many people walked along in it without stopping to 
think where they were going ; that was the wrong road, 
that led to destruction. Most of the people in it were 
those who went on doing what pleased them with- 
out caring whether it pleased God or not. Then there 
was another way to live that was like a narrow road with 
a little gate. We must be willing to be careful what we 
do, and be in earnest about pleasing God and finding the 
way to him if we would walk in this one, but it is the 
way to Life. We are all of us walking in one way or the 
other. 

Two kinds of guides. If one road leads to Death and 

one to Life it is very important that we should choose 

the right one. God has given us many teachers to guide 

us right, and Satan also has his servants to try to lead 

us in his way. How can we tell what guides to follow? 

Just as we tell good trees from bad ones, by the fruits 

they bear, so Jesus said we could tell true guides 

from false ones by the way they lived and taught others 
13 



194 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

to live. If the things they teach make us love God 
better and try more earnestly to please him, if they 
make us more careful not to sin and more patient and 
loving with each other, these are good fruits that must 
come from good trees. But if they teach us that we 
need not obey all God's commandments or fight against 
sin or pray for daily help and daily forgiveness, no matter 
how pleasant they seem, they are like trees that have 
beautiful blossoms but yield sour, bitter, unwholesome 
fruit. 

Two kinds of fruit. We ourselves are bearing fruit, 
either good fruit or bad fruit, and that is the way God 
will judge us. We show what we arc by what we do. 
Jesus said, *' Every tree that bringeth not forth good 
fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire," which means 
that God will destroy those who do evil for themselves 
and others. Even in this life those whose hearts are 
not filled with love to God and man grow sour and mean 
and hateful, and are like dead trees, and when they come 
into another world there will be nothing in them to be 
happy in the company of God and the angels. They 
are fit only to be destroyed. 

Saying and doing. But if we only say^ " I will choose 
the narrow way, I Avill follow the true guide, I will bear 
good fruit," that will not bring us into the kingdom. It 
is not saying, but doing, which shows what we really are. 
I have a rosebush in my garden which has a fine name 
written on a slip of wood and fastened to it. But when 
it blossomed it was only a small, pale rose, not at all 
like what it promised to be. So Jesus says a great many 
people call him Lord and pretend to be his servants and 
to be trying to please him who do not really wish to do 
his will. They do good deeds to be praised by others 



WORDS OF WARnInC. 19^ 

or to please themselves; they are not the servants of the 
Lord Jesus waiting for his orders and going on his 
errands. Some of them will be really disappointed when 
they come to stand before Christ at last and hear him 
say, ''I never knew you, depart from me," instead of, 
" Come, ye blessed of my Father." 

Two builders. Can we be sure that Jesus will not say, 
" Depart from me," to us? There is one way, and that 
is to take Jesus himself for our guide, to make him our 
teacher, and his words our law. Then we shall have his 
Spirit within us and the fruits of the Spirit will make 
our lives pleasing to God and helpful to men. 

We shall be like a wise builder who builds his house 
upon a rock so firmly that no storms or floods can de- 
stro}^ it. 

But if we only talk about being good and wish we 
were good, if we go to church and hear God's words or 
read them ourselves in the Bible and then go away and 
forget them, or only try to be good that we may be 
praised by men, we are like a foolish builder who 
builds his house on the sand. When the rain beats 
on it and the floods rush under it and the winds blow, 
the house will fall, and so, when it is hard to do right, 
or Satan tempts us, or we think we can do wrong and 
nobody know it, our goodness will fall down because it 
has not Jesus to make it stand. Will you choose the 
right way and the true guide ? Will you open your 
heart to the Spirit of life that you may bear good fruit 
and build up the true foundation that you may stand in 
time of trial? Will you be one of those who say, or 
those who do ? of those who hear, or those who obey ? 



196 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 

THE HARVEST AND THE LABORERS. 

The Lord Jesus did not stay in Capernaum or in any 
one city. He went about from place to place, sometimes 
in one town or village and sometimes in another, and 
wherever he went his twelve disciples, whom he had 
chosen out from all the rest, went with him. They 
heard his words and saw his miracles, and often when 
they were alone with their Master he said things to 
them which he did not say to the multitudes. There 
were three things which the Scripture tells us Jesus did. 
He went about teaching, preaching, and healing. 

1. He taught in the synagogues, reading the w^ords of 
the law of God to the people and explaining to them 
w^hat it really meant. The scribes and priests had taught 
them so badly that they did not understand that what 
God wanted was the service of loving hearts and pure 
lives, but thought they could win his favor by bringing 
offerings and gifts, and saying long prayers, and trying 
to observe all the hard and troublesome rules which the 
priests had made for them. Jesus taught them the true 
way to please God. 

2. He preached the gospel of the kingdom. He told 
them that God had sent into the world his own Son to 
save them from their sins and set up a kingdom of 
peace and love and blessedness, into which they might 
all enter if they would. 

3. He healed every sickness and disease among them, 



THE HARVEST AND THE LABORERS. 1 97 

out of his love and pity, and to prove to them that 
he really was the Son of God, with all power upon 
earth. 

But the more he was with them the more his heart 
ached for them when he saw that they had no true, care- 
ful, loving guides and teachers, but were like sheep with- 
out any shepherd, scattered abroad among dangerous 
enemies, with no one to bring them into the fold. 

He said to his disciples : '' The harvest truly is plen- 
teous, but the laborers are few." More laborers were 
needed to do God's work ; how should they be found ? 
Jesus told them what to do. He said, *' Pray to the 
Lord of the harvest to send them forth." 

That is the first thing for us to do when we see so 
much work to be done for God and no one to do it. 
The world is God's harvest field, and if we ask him in 
faitJi, as the people did whom Jesus healed, he will send 
some one to gather in his precious sheaves. 

But perhaps we ourselves may be the ones he sends. 
When Jesus had bidden his disciples pray that some one 
might be sent he called them to him and sent them out 
to preach and to teach and to heal just as he had done. 
If we are really anxious that God's harvest may be gath- 
ered in we shall be glad to hear him say, *' Go ye," as 
he said to his twelve disciples. 

How the laborers were prepared. Jesus had been 
teaching them by his words and by his examples all the 
time they had been with him, but now he did one thing 
more for them — ^^ He gave tJieiti poiver.'' They had no 
power of their own, but in the name of Jesus and by his 
power they could cast out evil spirits and heal diseases. 
Even little children, with the power which Jesus gives, 
have done blessed work for him and led others into his 



198 HOME TvVLKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

kingdom, and without his power the best and wisest 
men can do nothing. 

To whom he sent them. All the people in the world 
need to hear the news of the kingdom, but Jesus told 
his disciples to go first to their own people, whom 
he called the lost sheep of the house of Israel ; the 
sheep that had once belonged to God's flock, but had 
lost their way and had no good shepherd. When they 
were gathered in they would go after other wanderers, 
or, if they would not listen, then the message would be 
sent to others. 

How they were to preach. They were not to wait till 
they got to a good place, where there were plenty of peo- 
ple. Jesus said, ^^ A.s ye go^ pi^eacJir 

That is the way Jesus preached ; everywhere, by the 
wayside, sitting to rest at the well, wherever he was, he 
was always ready to teach and to help somebody. That 
is the way he means us all to preach, as we go, every day, 
everywhere. By the words we speak, by the kind deeds 
we do, by the way we look and act and live ; in our 
homes, at school, at work, always we may be preaching 
as we go, glorifying our Father and leading others to 
glorify him. 

What they were to preach. They were to say, '' The 
kingdom of heaven is at hand." No one need to wait 
to find God or to go to any other place or do any hard 
thing to enter his kingdom ; it is right at hand ; whoso- 
ever will may enter. This is what they were to say 
wherever they went, and, to prove they really were God's 
messengers, they were to use the power that he had 
given them to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the 
dead, and cast out devils, as Jesus had done. 

And thoucrh God's laborers now do not need to have 



THE HARVEST AND THE LABORERS. 



99 



exactly this kind of power given to them he bids them 
do all they can for men's bodies as well as their souls, 
and he has promised a reward to those who give even a 
cup of cold water in his name. 

How to give. All our good things for men's souls and 
men's bodies are to be given freely, not grudgingly 
and because we must, not selfishly, as little as we can, 
but freely, because God has given freely to us. He sent 
his Son without waiting for our asking, because he loved 
us and longed to help us. So, freely and gladly and of 
our best, we should give to others. 




An)3 ^ex^ TJ-C^Nt TWO Af^D TWO 



200 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER L. 

WATCHING. 

The disciples thought it was very important for them 
to know the exact time when their Lord was coming 
back again to this earth. But though Jesus told them 
some of the signs which should be seen before he came 
he did not tell them when it should be. He told them 
he surely was coming again, and that every eye should 
see him ''coming in the clouds with great power and 
glory ; " but it was not for them to know the day or the 
hour when this should be. When they saw these signs 
of which he had told them coming to pass, then 
they might know the time was near, just as when the 
little green buds first begun to swell on the fig tree they 
knew that summer was near, though they could not see 
it. He told them that even when they saw no sign at 
all of his coming back, though year after year should 
pass, and all things seem to go on just as they had done, 
they were to remember that he surely would return, for 
he had told them so, and though heaven and earth 
might pass away his word should never pass away. 

If they did not know the time, and could not know it, 
was there any need of watching? Should not they just 
go on without troubling themselves about it or thinking 
of it at all? Is that the way a child would do whose 
father had gone away on a journey from which he might 
at any time return? No; he would be all the time 
watching and thinking, '' Perhaps he will come to-day or 



WATCHING. 20I 

to-morrow. I must be ready to welcome him. I 
wonder if I have done everything as he would like it. I 
must finish this work that he gave me before he comes ; 
I have no time to waste, for he may come any day." 

That is exactly the way in which Jesus bade his dis- 
ciples wait for his coming. He said, ** Take ye heed, 
watch and pray : for ye know not when the time is." 
And then he explained it by a parable. He said, " For 
the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who 
left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to 
every man his work, and commanded the porter to 
watch. Watch ye therefore : for ye know not when the 
master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or 
at the cockcrowing, or in the morning : lest coming sud- 
denly he find you sleeping." 

The disciples felt so sure that Jesus was very soon 
coming back that they might have thought they alone 
needed to be told what to do while they were waiting. 
But Jesus knew that hundreds of years must pass and 
many generations wait for their Lord, and so he said, 
''And what I say unto you I say unto all. Watch," 

y4//means you and me, and everybody ; so let us think 
a little about the way we are to watch. 

Though Jesus had gone away to heaven, like the man 
who went on a journey, this world is his also. He calls 
it his house, and says he had left its business in the 
hands of his servants. He has given to everyone his 
work. Whatever we have in this world belongs to God, 
and whatever work we do must be done for him and so 
as to please him. It is not only great men and wise 
men, teachers and preachers and rulers, to whom God 
has given work ; the story says he gave to every man 
his work. Some could do one thing and some another. 



202 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



but all sorts of work was needed, and each one had 
only his own part to account for; and just so it is with 
each one of us. The first half of Mark xiii, 33, teaches us 
the three things which are necessary if we would please 
our Lord: ''Take ye heed, watch and pray." 

First. " Take heed.'" We must not think it does not 
matter how we do our work, or learn our lessons, or play, 
or talk, or look. We must not think our work is too 
small or unimportant to be done for God ; everything 
may be done for him ; everyone's help is needed. 

Second. ''Watch." We must not forget God while 
we are working ; we must watch for him and think 
about him. And there is another reason for watching: 
we are told to Avatch because Satan is always at hand 
to lead us into evil; and that is why the third thing is 
joined with watching. 

Third. " Pray." Neither trying nor watching will en- 
able us to do our work and have our hearts waiting to 
welcome the Lord unless while we work and watch we 
pray. It is not enough that we " take heed ; " we need 
God to take heed for us, to keep us from temptation and 
deliver us from evil. 




THE PARABLE OF TUE VINEYARD. 203 



CHAPTER LI. 

THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD. 

When our Lord spoke to the people in parables he 
always chose something with which they were familiar 
— something in their daily life and experience. They 
knew all about the care of sheep, how the good shep- 
herd must lead and care for them, bringing them into 
the fold at night, seeking them when they wandered 
away, and often risking his own life for them. So when 
he said, " I am the good shepherd," they understood just 
what if meant to care for men's souls as the shepherd 
cared for his flock. 

They knew all about vineyards and how much labor 
and expense were necessary to cover one of their steep, 
rocky hillsides with strong, fruitful vines. There were 
the wild growths to be rooted out, the soil to be pre- 
pared and enriched, a wall to be built for protection, 
plants carefully set and tended, watchmen kept on guard, 
and many other things done before fruit-bearing was 
possible. 

When Jesus, on the last day of his teaching,, told the 
parable of the vineyard the people who listened under- 
stood that their own nation was the vineyard which the 
Lord had so cared for, and from which he had a right 
to expect fruit. The priests and the rulers knew that 
they were the unfaithful servants who rejected their 
Lord's messengers and who were even then plotting to 
kill the beloved Son who had been sent last of all ; but 



204 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

it only filled them with greater hatred to have their un- 
faithfulness pointed out and words of warning spoken to 
them. The parable may have done them no good at all, 
but people have been reading and studying it ever since 
and learning the lesson which it was meant to teach. 

The owner of the vineyard. Everywhere the Bible 
teaches us that this world and all worlds belong to God. 
Whatever we have is his, and only intrusted to us. He 
prepared the world for us to live in ; we could not exist 
without him, and, as the vines are carefully set in the 
vineyard, so our places in the world are made ready for 
us that we may grow and bear fruit. He is the Lord of 
the vineyard because of what he has done for it, and he 
asks for his share of its fruit. We ourselves are vines 
of God's planting, and he expects from us love and 
patience and obedience and faith, all those heavenly 
graces which are the fruits of the Spirit. 

The keepers of the vineyard. While every life is to 
bring forth fruit in itself we are also the keepers of God's 
vineyard, bound to care for, protect, and make the most 
of his property, remembering his ownership and being 
always ready to give an account to him. The unfaithful 
servants thought because their lord had gone so far 
away they could use his property for themselves, just as 
we sometimes forget that the things which God intrusts 
to us are not our own, and live selfishly, making no re- 
turn to our Lord. He gives us his open word, he gives 
us Christian teaching, he gives us all the riches of knowl- 
edge and freedom and intelligence, and he expects us 
to make our return to him by pure, noble, godly lives, 
and by sharing our blessings with others. 

Patience. God bears long with us. He does not at 
once punish us for our selfishness. The lord of the vine- 



THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD. 



^oi 



yard sent messenger after messenger, hoping the hus- 
bandmen would repent ; and so in many ways God pleads 
with us to remember his claims. 

Punishment. The last, the greatest, the best thing 
which the owner of the vineyard could do was to send 
his son to plead with the unfaithful husbandmen ; the 
last and the greatest thing God could do for us was done 
when he sent his beloved and only Son to reconcile us 
to him. This greatest thing is already done, and the 
voice of the Son is added to the voices of all the other 
messengers, saying, '' For ye are not your own : ye are 
bought with a price ; " "I beseech you therefore, by the 
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sac- 
rifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reason- 
able service ; " ^' Let the love of God dwell in you 
richly ; " '' Having your fruit unto holiness ; " " See that 
ye refuse not him that speaketh." 

If we will not listen the solemn judgment is spoken 
against us, " He shall come and destroy these husband- 
men, and shall give the vineyard to others." 




l^i^arS^ 



2o6 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LII. 

THE WATER OF LIFE. 

There was a great feast at Jerusalem that lasted 
eight days. It was called the Feast of Tabernacles ; it 
was held every year, and while it lasted the people lived 
in little booths of green branches, which they made by 
the side of the streets, in the gardens, on the flat roofs 
of the houses, and outside the city walls. This was to 
help them remember the years when Moses led them 
away from Egypt through the wilderness ; when they 
had no houses to live in, and when God sent them 
manna to eat, and made cool water flow out of the rock 
for them to drink. Every day the people went up to the 
temple to hear the priests read the story of that jour- 
ney and to give thanks that now God had brought them 
to live in a pleasant country and given them homes and 
gardens and vineyards. Each morning the priest took 
a golden pitcher, went out to the fountain of Siloam, 
filled it with the pure water, and brought it back to the 
temple. Then while the singers sang the story of the 
water that flowed from the rock for the thirsty people 
the priest poured out the water, and all the people 
shouted and clapped their hands for J03/. But even 
among those who shouted and rejoiced there were some 
that were sick and some that were in trouble, people 
whose hearts were sorrowful because of sin, and who did 
not know how to get rid of it. They came to the 
feasts, and brought sacrifices, and listened to the priests 



208 HOMfi TALKS ABOUT TME WORt). 

and saw the water poured out, and then they went away 
and were no better than they were before. It was just 
as if they drank water and then went out in the hot 
desert and in a few minutes were thirsty again. Some 
day, the priests said, God would pour his Spirit upon 
his people and make them wise and holy and happy ; 
but they could not tell when it would be, and most of 
them did not think or care anything about it. 

But one day Jesus suddenly appeared among them. 
He went up to the temple and taught the people ; he 
went about healing the sick and doing such miracles 
that many believed on him, and the Pharisees who hated 
him sent some officers to watch for a chance to take him. 
On the last day of the feast, the greatest day of all, 
Jesus stood up before the crowd that filled the temple 
and the court about it and called aloud, "If any man 
thirst, let him come unto me and drink." Wonderful 
words for a teacher to speak ! The people came closer 
about him ; the lame and the sick and the poor and the 
sorrowful listened eagerly while this teacher went on to 
explain to them that they need not wait for thart Spirit 
which was like living water. He told them that he had 
come into the world on purpose that all who believed on 
him might receive this blessed Spirit, which would be 
like a living fountain springing up in every heart. 

The story does not tell us all that he said, only what 
he talked to them about ; but some of the people who 
listened said : *' This is a wonderful teacher; no one 
ever taught us like this, and what he says is all true. 
Surely this must be the great prophet that Moses said 
would some day come to teach us." Some others said : 
" He is more than a prophet ; he is the great king who 
is going to rule over us and conquer all our enemies." 



THE WATER OF LIFE. 209 

And then there were some who did not beHeve on him 
at all ; so there was a great deal of talking and disput- 
ing among them. Some of them even wanted to seize 
him and take him away to the chief priests and the Phar- 
isees to be punished. But when they looked at Jesus 
and listened to his words, when they saw him laying 
his hands on the sick and healing them, touching the 
blind eyes and giving them sight, and saying to the lame, 
" Rise up and walk," no one dared to touch him. Some- 
thing held back their hands and made them afraid. 
Even the officers whom the chief priests and the Phari- 
sees had sent to seize him came back and stood in the 
council room without any prisoner. The Pharisees 
looked at them in surprise and asked, " Why have you 
not brought him ? " and the officers answered, " Never 
man spake like this man." 

That was true. No one but Jesus ever said, '* Come 
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." No one but Jesus ever said, '* I am the 
light of the world ; " ''I am the bread of life ; " ** I am 
the Son of God ; " "I am the good shepherd ; I lay 
down my life for the sheep ; " " I am the way, the truth, 
and the life ; no man cometh unto the Father but by me." 
No one but Jesus ever promised to give us peace and 
gladness and comfort in spite of any trouble that might 
come upon us. No one else ever promised that he 
would keep safely everyone who trusted in him, and that 
to the end of the world he would be with all his children, 
ready to hear every word and help every minute. No 
one else ever promised that even our sorrow should be 
turned into joy, and that some day all who love and 
serve him here shall be with him in the home he has 
prepared for us. No one but Jesus has spoken such 
14 



210 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



words as these, for no one else can do such wonderful 
things for us. 

When these officers said, '' Never man spake like this 
man," there was one among the rulers who knew in his 
heart how true that was. This was Nicodemus, who 
had the talk with Jesus one night. He remembered what 
wonderful words Jesus had said to him, and when the 
Pharisees spoke angrily to the officers because they had 
listened to Jesus, Nicodemus said : " Hadn't you better 
go and hear him yourselves before you make up your 
mind ? Our law says you must not judge any man till 
you hear what he has to say." But this only made them 
more angry still and more determined to kill Jesus. 




'"Ci^^^^^^t^- ••— -^-'^-^ 



TRUST IN OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. 211 



CHAPTER LIII. 

TRUST IN OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. 

Serving. We know what Jesus said about pretend- 
ing^ pretending to be kind and good and generous, so 
that people might praise you, pretending to pray and 
praise and serve God, not being simple and true and 
honest in all you did. That was not all he said. When 
he had told his disciples what they ought to be he went 
on to tell them what they ought to do and what they 
ought to cJwose. The best thing to choose was not 
riches, but the love and favor of God ; and they could 
not have this favor unless they made it the business 
of their lives to serve God. 

A servant must never have anything more important 
to do than serving his master ; a child must never have 
anything more important to do than pleasing his father, 
he must never be too busy to hear his voice and listen 
to his commands. 

'' No man can serve two masters." To serve in the 
way that Jesus meant is to belong to anyone. We can- 
not belong to God and belong to Satan at the same 
time. We cannot help choosing which we will obey, 
for we cannot serve both together. Perhaps we do not 
mean to take Satan for a master, but we wish to serve 
ourselves. We want to be rich, to get a great deal of 
money and have a great many pleasant things about us. 
It is not wrong to wish to have money and all the pleas- 
ant things that money can buy ; but if that is what we 



212 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

want most and think of most and try the hardest to get, 
we are making it our master and serving it. 

But people must have food and clothing and many 
things every day. Jesus did not forget this, but he bade 
his disciples give their whole love and service to their 
Father and then trust his care without being worried or 
troubled. He bade them remember how many great 
things their Father had done for them. He made their 
bodies, so wonderfully and skillfully formed, and he filled 
them with life. He kept their hearts beating and the 
blood flowing, he made them so that the broken bones 
would grow together and the wounded flesh heal, so 
that the little helpless baby would grow up to a strong, 
active man* Surely he would take care that this won- 
derful body had what it needed, food and raiment and 
daily care. 

Jesus always taught his disciples to look about them 
and see what their Father meant to teach them by the 
birds and the flowers and the trees. Now he said, 
" Behold the fowls of the air." God feeds them ; they do 
not lie awake and worry about breakfast ; they go and 
gather day by day their daily food. They live as God 
made them live, and are happy and contented. Are you 
not" much better than they ? 

He told them to look at the lilies, the great splendid 
blossoms that grew in the fields of that country, and 
think who gave them their beautiful array that was finer 
than even King Solomon had in all his glory. He told 
them to see how God had clothed even the grass of the 
field, that was green and beautiful one day and the next 
day was cast into the oven and burned. This was not 
what we call grass, but a pretty little shrub with leaves 
and stems full of a resinous gum and all covered with 



TRUST IN OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. 21 3 

delicate blossoms of pink or blue or yellow. The women 
and children of Palestine gather it every day in great bun- 
dles and carry it to the ovens. They let it lie and wither 
until the morrow, and then it makes a hot, fierce fire to 
bake their bread. No doubt there were many women list- 
ening to Jesus who that very day had been gathering the 
grass for their ovens, and surely none of them would 
ever do it again without remembering that he had said 
of their Father, ** Shall he not much more clothe you ? " 

How shall we leave off being troubled and worried 
about things? First, by telling our Father all about it ; 
next, by trusting him to give us just what is best for us, 
and then by trjnng with all our hearts to be just what 
our Father wants us to be ; by making it our first busi- 
ness to please him and to be good and pure and right 
in all our ways ; and then we may be sure we shall never 
want any good thing. You little children do not say 
when you sit down to dinner, " I wonder if we shall have 
any dinner to-morrow ?" You just leave everything to 
your kind parents and feel sure they'll take care of you, 
so you sing and laugh and are happy. Just in that way 
God tells his children to cast all their care upon him, 
because he cares for them, only to try to please him by 
being good. 

The things of this* world are not the best things. 
Those who do not know our Father, who do not under- 
stand his love, may seek for happiness in eating and 
drinking and thinking only of themselves ; but you 
should know better. You are to seek better things, the 
things of God's kingdom ; to be like your Father ; to 
bring others to know him. The son who is going to his 
father's house and has his father's business to attend to 
by the way must eat and drink and sleep as he goes; 



214 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

but he does not give his thought to this ; he seeks his 
father's house, he thinks of his father's business, he is 
anxious only to please and satisfy his father. 

You need not be afraid that you will lack your daily 
bread. You are to ask for it day by day and then do 
your part to gather it, just as the busy ravens do ; you 
are to be neither anxious nor idle. And you need not 
fear that you will fail of the best things, the kingdom 
that you are bidden to seek ; for your Father delights to 
satisfy those that hunger and thirst after righteousness ; 
it is his good pleasure to give you the bread of life and 
the garments of salvation. These are the things of 
which it is said, " Everyone that seeketh findeth ; and 
he that asketh receiveth." 

Do not wait until you have more than you want; di- 
vide what you have now, share with those who need. 
Instead of heaping up, give ; instead of laying away 
your money and your property to be wasted or useless 
or scattered by accident, use it for others, use it for God, 
and instead of more earthly riches you will have heav- 
enly riches that no one can take from you. You w^ill be 
rich toward God because you will be like him in charac- 
ter ; and instead of wasting away these riches will con- 
tinually increase ; instead of leaving them behind you 
when you leave this life they will fit you to enter upon 
and enjoy the life of heaven. 

Seeking this treasure you will find continually greater 
delight in loving and giving and living for others, 
selfishness will be overcome, your thoughts will be 
about God and his kingdom and your hearts filled with 
eager desire for it. 

Therefore fear not, little flock, trust for to-day and 
to-morrow. Your Father knows your needs ; you are 



TRUST IN OUR HEAVENLY FATHER. 



215 



precious to him ; he delights to give to you ; do not 
strive for earthly riches ; seek the best things, the things 
of his kingdom, to be like him in character. Give 
freely, share with others; what you give will come back 
to you in more precious riches. 




2l6 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LIV. 

JESUS HONORED. 

Jesus did not stay in Bethany after he raised Lazarus 
from the dead. He went away again to his work, for 
now his Hfe on earth was ahnost done. But just about 
a week before his crucifixion he came back once more to 
spend a httle time with these gentle, loving friends. Pil- 
grims from all parts of the land w^ere going up to Jeru- 
salem to the great Feast of the Passover, and Jesus and 
his disciples traveled with them as far as Bethany. 
There they stopped to spend a quiet Sabbath, and no 
doubt Jesus told Mary and Martha and Lazarus, just as 
he had told his disciples, that the time of his death was 
at hand. There was another home in Bethany where 
Jesus was loved and honored, and this was the home of 
Simon. He Is called Simon the leper, and Jesus had 
probably cured him of his dreadful disease. He w^anted 
to honor his friend, so he made a feast for Jesus and his 
disciples. Lazarus was invited also, and Mary and Mar- 
tha, and many others. 

The way in which Martha always chose to show her 
love for her dear Lord was by serving him and trying to 
do something for his comfort. It made her happy to 
wait upon him and show her loving heart by loving 
deeds. She was glad also to wait upon the friends of 
Jesus for his sake ; so at this feast, while Lazarus sat 
at the table as a guest, Martha served them, bringing 
food and pouring water upon their hands and showing 



JESUS HONORED. 21/ 

that she was glad and proud to be even a servant to the 
Lord whom she loved. 

What could Mary do to honor Jesus? She brought 
an alabaster box of rare and costly ointment, such as 
was used for pouring over the heads of kings as a mark 
of great honor. People in that country reclined upon 
couches when they ate, and she could not pour the per- 
fume upon the head of Jesus as he reclined at the table, 
but she came behind him and poured it upon the feet 
that had traveled so many weary miles as the blessed 
Master went about doing good. The sweet odor filled 
all the house, and everyone wondered why such a costly 
thing should all be poured out upon the feet of anyone. 

One of the guests was very much displeased, and said 
it was a great waste. Not Simon, who had been healed 
of his dreadful leprosy by this dear guest who sat at his 
table ; not Lazarus or Martha — they would think noth- 
ing too precious for the Friend who was to them above 
all kings ; not the Lord Jesus himself, for he smiled 
upon Mary and said she had done a beautiful deed that 
should always be remembered of her. He told them he 
was soon going away ; that they should not have him 
with them always or have any chance to show him 
honor ; that his death was so near that Mary's sweet per- 
fume was like anointing his body for the burial. 

The guest who was displeased was Judas, one of the 
disciples who went about with Jesus and pretended to 
love him. Already he had let Satan come into his 
heart and had begun to obey him and be his servant. 
He carried the bag in which the money was kept, and he 
was a thief and stole the money from it. He said it 
would have been better to sell the ointment for fifty 
dollars and give the money to the poor ; but Jesus knew 



2l8 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

he did not really care for the poor. He knew that even 
then Satan had put into his heart the dreadful plan of 
getting money from the Jews by betraying his Lord. 

The next day Jesus entered Jerusalem, riding on a 
young ass. The people took palm branches in their 
hands and went out to meet him, shouting and singing, 
as they would before a king, and all the multitude going 
before and following after shouted, '' Hosanna in the high- 
est ! Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." 

There were children among this singing multitude 
singing praises to the Friend who had taken children in 
his arms and said, " Suffer the children to come unto 
me." The children kept on singing, even after they 
came to the temple, and the chief priests were very 
much displeased when they heard it. They wanted 
Jesus to tell them to stop, but the Lord loved to hear 
their songs. He said God had filled their hearts with 
love and taught their lips to sing his praise. I think 
the honor he cared most for was the loving deed of Mary 
and the happy songs of the children, even more than the 
humble service of Martha or the feast of Simon or the 
praises of the multitude. But no loving deed or word 
or thought was ever overlooked or forgotten by him ; no 
loving deed or word or thought is ever unnoticed now. 
He himself has told how we can best serve and honor 
him by caring for his poor and needy ; for we always 
have them about us. When we sing *' Hosanna," that 
is one kind of honor, but when we feed the hungry and 
care for the sick and suffering and try to teach others to 
love God we are doing the very work which Jesus did, 
and honoring him by odeyvi^ him ; so he need not say to 
us, as he did to some, " Why do you call me Lord, and 
do not the things I command you?" 




THE CHILDREN S PRAISE. 



220 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LV. 

THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY. 

A GREAT company of travelers were on their way to 
Jerusalem. They did not go by railroad or in carriages, 
but walked along the pleasant roads together, talking as 
they traveled and stopping to eat or rest under the palm 
trees and by the streams of water. As they went on 
little companies of two or three, and sometimes larger 
bands, joined them from the villages and cities, for it was 
almost time for the great Feast of the Passover, when the 
people went up to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. 
The people of that country began their year in the 
spring, and this was the first month, when the barley 
was ready to harvest and the wheat was just beginning 
to ripen. 

The Lord Jesus and his disciples were with the com- 
pany of travelers, and so was the blind man Bartimicus, 
whose eyes Jesus had opened, and perhaps many others 
who had been healed ; for John tells us that only a few 
of the things that Jesus did were ever written down. 
The Jews used to sing psalms of rejoicing as they went 
up to Jerusalem, but I do not think the twelve disciples 
felt like singing. They were troubled and afraid, for 
Jesus had told them, as they were on the way, what he 
had told them before, that at Jerusalem he was to be de- 
livered into the hands of wicked men, and they should 
mock him, and scourge him, and spit upon him, and kill 
him ; and, although he said also that on the third day he 



S- 'pi 




222 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

should rise again, they were too sorrowful and full of 
fear to think much about that. 

When they were a little way froni the city they 
stopped awhile near the little village of Bethphage, at the 
foot of the Mount of Olives. Was Jesus going to wait 
there and let the great company go on, so that he might 
go in quietly and not be noticed ? No ; Jesus was not 
going into the city as a poor traveler, unnoticed among 
the crowds. He was going to enter like a king and a 
conqueror taking possession of his kingdom. Earthly 
kings often gain their kingdoms by putting thousands of 
people to death or making slaves of them, but Jesus was 
going to take his kingdom, by giving up his own life to 
give life to others and setting free the slaves of sin. 
Sometimes he had bidden his disciples not to tell of his 
wonderful works, because the time had not yet come, 
and he could not be hindered ; but now the time had 
come, and he wished everyone to know that he was the 
King of Israel, and that he gave up his life freely, to fin- 
ish his work. 

Jesus called two of his disciples and bade them go over 
to the village and bring a young colt which they would 
find tied at the door of a house just as they entered the 
city. And if any man asked them why they were loos- 
ing the colt they were to say, '' The Lord hath need of 
him." The disciples did as they were bidden. They 
found the colt tied at the door, they loosed him, and 
when some one asked, *' What are you doing ? " they 
said, " The Lord hath need of him," and they let them go. 

They brought the colt to Jesus and spread their gar- 
ments upon him, and Jesus sat upon him. As he rode 
on many spread their garments in the path and cut down 
green branches and strewed them in the way, as they 



THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY. 223 

used to do before their kings ; and all the multitude, 
some going before and some coming after, sang and 
shouted, *' Hosanna ! Blessed is he that cometh in the 
name of the Lord ! Blessed is the kingdom that cometh ! 
Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest ! " So the 
whole multitude went on, shouting, and when the news 
reached the city that Jesus was coming the people took 
palms and went to meet him, singing, ''Hosanna! 
Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord ! " 

Moreover, Matthew remembered to tell us that there 
were children crying *' Hosanna," and they followed on 
even into the temple and sang their praises there, while 
the blind and the lame gathered about Jesus to be healed. 

Do you think among so many voices Jesus would hear 
the praises of the children ? Yes ; for even the chief 
priests and the scribes heard them in the temple, and 
were very much displeased by it. They w^anted Jesus to 
stop them, but he said, '' Have ye never read, Out of 
the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected 
praise ? " As if he meant to say, '' The children's praise 
is the best of all ; they really love me, and love is what I 
want. They are ready to be taught and to obey ; of such 
is the kingdom of heaven, and not of men like you 
scribes, or of people who only shout because they hope 
I am going to set up a splendid court like Solomon's 
and give them some place of honor." 

Are you not glad that Matthew remembered to men- 
tion the children and to tell us that Jesus commended 
their praise? For as he was pleased to hear their voices 
then-, so he loves to hear them now, and amid all the songs 
that go up to him from men and from angels he never loses 
the sound of the weakest voice, or even of a loving heart 
that says, without any sound at all, '' Blessed Lord Jesus ! " 



224 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LVI. 

UNFAITHFUL SERVANTS. 

The priests were men whose business it was to teach 
the people about God and how to serve and please him. 
They were God's servants, and their work was to help 
the people to do right. But in the days of our Lord 
Jesus they had become proud and wicked, and cared for 
nothing but to be honored and obeyed by others. They 
were not willing to be taught, and they hated Jesus be- 
cause the people listened to him rather than to them. 

They were determined to kill Jesus, but they meant 
to do it in such a way that it should look as if they were 
only anxious to serve God. They kept watch of Jesus 
when he was teaching ; they sent cunning men to ask 
him questions, and tried to find something in his words 
or deeds for which they might accuse him. But even 
the Roman soldiers whom they sent came back and de- 
clared they could not arrest him, because never man 
spake as he did ; and day after day they grew more de- 
termined in their hatred as they saw that Jesus was win- 
ning the hearts of the people and showing them that 
the teaching of the priests was not safe to follow. 

One day, when they had been questioning Jesus, he 
told them a story, called a parable, to show them that 
they were like wicked and unfaithful servants who did 
not do the work their masters had given them, and were 
unwilling that anyone else should do it. It was the 
story of a man who took great pains to prepare his vine- 



UNFAITHFUL SERVANTS. 22$ 

yard by planting the vines, and inclosing it with a hedge, 
and digging a pit for the wine press and a tower for the 
watchman, and then gave it into the care of some hus- 
bandmen to manage for him while he went away to a far 
country. But when, by and by, it was time for fruit and 
he sent a servant for it the wicked men caught him and 
beat him, and sent him away without anything. The 
master of the vineyard was very patient with them and 
sent a great many times, but some of his servants they 
beat and some they even killed, but they would not give 
any share of the fruits of the vineyard to the owner. By 
and by the master, who had one beloved son, sent him, 
saying, '' They will reverence my son." But when they 
saw him they said, " Come, let us kill him, and then the 
vineyard will be ours." So they took him and killed 
him, and cast him out of the vineyard. 

How do you think these wicked priests felt in their 
hearts, when Jesus looked at them and asked, " What 
shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do ? " No one 
answered him, and Jesus said, " He will come and de- 
stroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto 
others." 

The priests and the scribes and the Pharisees under- 
stood the parable, and so did the people. They knew 
that instead of taking care of the Lord's vineyard for 
him they had thought only of themselves ; they had 
turned away his messengers, and now that he had sent 
his only Son they were planning to kill him. They saw 
that Jesus meant them, and they would have killed him 
that minute if they had dared, but they were afraid that 
the people would take his part, so they waited a little 
longer. 

The parable has a meaning for us as well as for the 
1q 



226 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

unfaithful priests. We are all God's servants, and he has 
given each one of us a vineyard to take care of for him. 
He has done a great deal to prepare it for us by giving 
us his Holy Spirit to enlighten us, his word to instruct 
and guide us, parents and friends and teachers to coun- 
sel us, churches and Sunday schools and Sabbath days 
that are like a hedge about the vineyard to keep out 
evil. And then he sends his messengers to ask if we 
have any fruit for him. Have we anything to give him, 
or do we think only about ourselves, live for ourselves, 
work for ourselves, and quite forget that our vineyard 
belongs to God and he has set us to keep it ? 

The poor and the needy are God's messengers, and he 
sends them in his name for his share of our fruits. The 
heathen and the ignorant, in this land and in other 
lands, are God's messengers, and a share belongs to 
them. Our money, our strength, our time, our wisdom, 
all come to us from God, and he asks a part of all. 

The best thing we can have to render to God from our 
vineyards is hearty love and glad service ; for he sends 
to us, as he did to the unfaithful servants, his well- 
beloved Son. He says, " This vineyard belongs to me ; 
give it to me and I will bless it and teach you how to 
keep it that it may bear much fruit." Shall we give the 
vineyard into his hands ? Shall we ask him to take us 
and all we have, and teach us to be his loving servants, 
doing everything for him, happy in his help and presence 
here, and looking forward without fear to the day when 
we shall give account to him for all with which he has 
intrusted us ? 



THE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS. 22/ 



CHAPTER LVII. 

THE TWO GREAT COMMANDMENTS. 

In those days when our Lord Jesus was in Jerusalem 
and crowds of people were listening to his teachings, the 
chief priests and the scribes were watching and waiting in 
the hope that he would say something which would give 
them an excuse for seizing him and putting him to death. 
They asked him all sorts of questions to see if they could 
not get him to say something contrary to what Moses 
had taught, and to the things that were written in the 
law of God ; but his answers were always so true and 
wise that the people could see that Jesus really knew 
much more about the law" of God than their teachers 
did, and cared more to have men obey it. One day, 
when they had tried in vain to catch him in his words, 
one of the scribes who was listening could not help 
wondering at the wisdom with which Jesus answered all 
their questions. He thought he would ask one himself, 
so he said, "Which is the first commandment of all?" 
He meant by this, *' Which is the greatest and most im- 
portant commandment for men to obey?" 

The scribes spent a great deal of time in disputing to- 
gether about the commandments, trying to prove which 
one was the most important, and which one it was most 
sinful to break. They taught the people exactly what 
they might do on the Sabbath day, and just what taking 
God's name in vain meant, but they never taught them 
that the only obedience God cares for is that we should 



228 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

keep his commandments because in our hearts we love 
him and wish to please him. 

Jesus did not say a word about what their wise men 
and great teachers had written and said of the command- 
ments. He said, '' The first of all the commandments 
is, The Lord our God is one God ; and thou shalt love 
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy 
soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength : 
this is the first commandment." 

There are two reasons why this is the first command- 
ment. It is first because it is most important. What 
God wants of us is love and a desire above all things to 
please him. A child may be very careful to obey the 
actual commands that his father has given him, and 
yet do things that grieve him. The father may say, 
" My son, it is true that I have never forbidden you to 
do this thing, but if you truly loved and honored me 
you would have felt that it would not be pleasing to me, 
and love would have been as powerful as a command." 
And another child may do something through igno- 
rance or thoughtlessness which makes the father great 
trouble, and yet he may say, " I am sorry you did this ; 
you should have stopped to consider, or have asked 
me about it ; but I know you truly love me and really 
desire to please me, and the next time you will be wiser." 

The first child is disobedient in spirit, and the second 
is not, and we know very well with which the father is 
best pleased. So it is with our Father in heaven. What 
he cares for is our love and confidence and trust, and no 
outward obedience is worth anything compared with this. 

And then it is first because it must come first. We 
cannot obey until we love. We cannot serve until we 
love. The first tiling God asks of us is love, and until 



THE two GREAT COMMANDMENTS. 229 

we have eiven that we have not entered his service at all i 
we cannot understand him or his wishes for us; it is im- 
possible to please him. 

The scribe only asked for the greatest commandment, 
but Jesus told him that there was another that in its 
spirit was like the first and must come next, and that 
was, '' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." 

We must begin by loving God with all the heart, and 
that love will take selfishness out of us, because when 
we are filled with love there Avill be no room for selfish- 
ness, no room for anything displeasing to God. Our 
love for God will make us wish to be like him ; it will make 
us continually grow more like him, so that we shall feel 
toward others more and more as he feels. A child may 
not understand all his father's plans, but if there is love 
and trust and confidence and sympathy between them, 
if they talk together and work together, the child will 
grow more like the father, be better able to enter into 
his wishes and carry out his plans. 

So if we love our heavenly Father we shall have his 
spirit dwelling in us: he is love, we shall be love also. 
We shall keep the two great commandments, and that is 
the only possible way to keep the rest. Even the scribe 
saw this. He said to Jesus, *' Thou hast answered well," 
and Jesus told him, ''Thou art not far from the kingdom 
of God ; " but we do not know whether he ever really en- 
tered the kingdom by accepting the teaching of Jesus 
like a little child. We may be very near the kingdom 
of God, and yet not enter in because we are not quite 
ready to say : 

" Take my heart, it is thine own, 

It shall be thy royal throne ; 
Take myself, and I will be 

Ever, only, all for thee." 



230 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LVIII. 

OUR lord's last lesson. 

The night before Jesus was crucified was the night on 
which, in every home in Jerusalem, families and friends 
gathered about the table to eat the passover supper in 
memory of the time wheu the Lord smote all the first- 
born in Egypt, but passed over the homes of the Israel- 
ites who had marked the posts of the door with the 
blood of a lamb. 

The lamb whose blood saved them from death was a 
type of that Lamb of God by whose blood their souls 
were to be redeemed, and he was now ready to be 
offered. This last night Jesus wished to be alone with 
his disciples, to give them his last messages of love and 
promise, to speak to them his last words that they might 
never forget, and to commend them for the last time to 
the keeping of his Father. 

He sent Peter and John to Jerusalem to jjrepare for 
the passover supper in the house of a man who was 
probably a friend, and at the usual time, which was after 
sunset, they all gathered in the upper room where the 
table was spread. There were no servants to wait upon 
them and wash their dusty feet, and none of them seem 
to have been willing to do this humble service for the 
others. While the heart of their Master was full of love 
for them all, even for Judas, who had promised to betray 
him, they were disputing about who should have the 
most honorable place and be served instead of serving. 



OUR LORDS LAST LESSON. 23 1 

Jesus knew it all, but nothing made his love less tender. 
John says, *^ Having loved his own, he loved them unto 
the end." He told them how much he had desired to 
eat this supper with them before he suffered, and as 
they ate and drank together he told them that he should 
never again share it with them on earth. 

He talked to them of his going away, and assured 
them that he would not leave them comfortless. He 
bade them love one another as he had loved them, and 
he gave them a lesson that they must always remember 
by doing for them what they were not willing to do for 
each other. He rose from the table, took a towel and 
basin and washed their feet and bade them remember 
that he, their Lord and Master, had been ready to do 
the humblest service for them, and so they should also 
be ready to serve one another. He said, " Blessed are 
ye if ye do these things," using just the same word about 
such common small things as washing dusty feet that he 
did when he said, '' Blessed are they who are persecuted 
for righteousness' sake." 

Don't you think the disciples must have been ashamed 
to remember how unwilling they had been to serve each 
other when they saw that their Lord was ready to do 
the humblest work to serve them? They understood, 
too, that he did not mean to teach them just to wash 
each other's feet when it was needful, but to be ready to 
serve each other in any way. The thing that makes 
service easy and delightful is love. Mothers forget all 
about tired feet and tired hands when they are serving 
the children they love. God gave his beloved Son to 
suffer and die for us because he loved us so. The first 
lesson for us to learn from the example which Jesus has 
given us is the lesson of love like his to all the world. 



232 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

Next is the lesson of humility, not to strive to be 
greatest and try to set ourselves up above others, but to 
imitate our Lord, who came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister, who took upon himself the form of a 
servant, and though he was rich, yet for our sakes be- 
came poor, so that we, through his poverty, might be rich. 

Next the lesson of service, but service and humility 
are sure to follow love. He who loves wishes to serve ; 
he who loves forgets himself, and John, who was close to 
his Master at that supper, and perhaps understood him 
best, wrot eafterward, " Love is the fulfilling of the law." 

Did you ever think that by the little helpful things 
that you can do every day in your homes you can obey 
one of the very last commands of Jesus, and do what he 
took so much pains to teach his disciples? For when 
he bade them wash each other's feet he meant, be will- 
ing to do any service for the help and comfort of each 
other, and this is his command just as much as the one 
that bade them go and preach the Gospel. 

Remember it when you have tiresome work to do and 
would rather play, when you are impatient at having to 
wait upon others, when you are asked to do what you 
think somebody else might do. Think that Jesus is say- 
ing, '^ I have given you an example, I am your Lord, 
but I was not ashamed to serve. Can you not do what 
I did ? " And then remember that Jesus said of these 
little humble services, " If ye know these things, blessed 
are ye if ye do them." 

Just think that those who wash tired feet and help 
tired hands and tired eyes and bring a cup of cold water 
and speak a kind word or smooth away trouble are called 
blessed, the same as tlie peacemakers and the pure in 
heart ! Has Jesus said to you to-day, " Blessed are ye ? " 



A PRECIOUS PRAYER. 233 



CHAPTER LIX. 

A PRECIOUS PRAYER. 

And now the last words are spoken ; in a little while 
the soldiers will come to take Jesus away. He cannot 
teach or advise or comfort his disciples any more, but 
before he leaves them he prays for them. He did not 
kneel down ; John says he lifted up his eyes to heaven. 
He began by saying, " Father," just as if he saw God and 
was talking to him about the dear ones whom he loved 
so much. 

1. *' Keep them from the evil." 

He asked God to keep them. All the years that Jesus 
had been with them he had cared for them and kept 
them, and taught them to trust their Father's love ; but 
now he was going away, and these disciples would have 
sorrow and temptation and trial. Satan would tempt 
them, and bad men would tempt them, and those who 
hated Jesus would hate his servants also. Who could 
keep them from the evil that would be all about them ? 
Only their Father in heaven. Would he keep them 
from trouble and danger? Not always. He did not 
keep Daniel and David from all trouble, but he made 
them brave and strong and loving enough to do right in 
spite of danger. It is good for God's soldiers to fight 
against evil if they remember to pray as Jesus taught 
them, ** Deliver us from evil," for only our Father can 
deliver us and keep us. 

2. " Sanctify them through thy truth." 



234 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

It is not enough just to keep from doing what God 
forbids. God wants to fill our hearts so full of love that 
we shall delight to please him and do his will because 
we love to do it. Jesus prayed that God would teach 
tJiesexiisciples by his word so that they would receive 
his truth into their hearts, and love and obey it. So, 
day by day, their lives would grow better and brighter 
and more beautiful, and they should be safe from evil 
without and evil within. 

3. A prayer for us. '' Neither pray I for these alone." 
If Jesus had said at the very end of his prayer that it 

was not alone for the disciples that were there with him, 
but for everybody who should learn to love him, it 
surely would have made us glad. But he did not wait 
until he came to the end. Right here in the midst of 
the praying he stops to say that he is praying for all 
that shall believe on him, as long as his word is 
preached. And then he asks for us, for you and for me, 
some of the most beautiful and precious things in all the 
prayer. 

4. " That they all may be one." 

He asks that his children may love each other and 
love God so that they may be like one family, with one 
Father and one elder Brother, Jesus Christ ; Jesus dwell- 
ing in our hearts, and our Father loving us as he loves 
his only Son, our Saviour. When Jesus prayed that all 
his children might be one he meant that they should 
all love him so much that they should want just what he 
wanted. His love joins people together and joins them 
to him, just as if I should take one child by my right 
hand and one by my left, and hold you both fast ; you 
would be joined together and joined to me. Is it not 
wonderful that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ will 



A PRECIOUS PRAYER. 235 

take us, too, into his love, and, because Jesus loves us, 
gather us all into his arms together? Jesus says, ''My 
Father, these are mine, and all mine are thine. Keep 
them from evil ; make them clean by thy word ; let them 
all be one, loving thee and loving one another ; let all 
the' world see that thou lovest them as thou hast loved 
me." 

5. " That they may be with me ; that they may behold 
my glory." 

If we have this love in our hearts we shall live with 
God even in this life ; he will hold us fast, so that Satan 
may not get us ; he will speak to us, and we shall speak 
to him, and know that he is smiling on us; we shall be 
children of the light, and have peace and joy in our 
Father which nothing can take from us. But that is not 
all. Jesus prayed that by and by, when we have done 
living in our bodies, we should come and be with him, 
and share the glory of his heavenly home. So you see 
we may have Jesus with us here and always; he will 
share everything that comes to his children, whether it 
be joy or sorrow, and they shall share with him in his 
kingdom. 

When Jesus was on the cross he prayed for his ene 
mies, but this precious, loving prayer was just for his 
children, for those who know and obey him. To-day in 
heaven he still prays for us ; we may go to him this mo- 
ment and say, " Dear Lord, who died for me, take me, 
pray for me, teach me how to serve thee." And Jesus 
will say, just as he said of Peter and John and Mark, 
" These are mine, and all mine are thine. Keep through 
thine own name those whom thou hast given me." 



236 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LX. 

OUR PLACE IN HEAVEN. 

If a company of little children were on a journey with 
their father through a strange country, where they had 
no houses to live in, but slept in tents or caves, or wher- 
ever they could find shelter, they might feel quite safe 
and contented so long as their father was with them. 
But if the father were going on before, to leave them to 
finish their journey alone, they would surely be troubled, 
and think of all the things that might happen to them on 
the way. Think how they would gather about their 
father before he bade them good-bye, and ask what they 
should do if they got into any trouble or felt sick or 
lonesome, and how they could be sure of finding the way 
home. No matter how strong and wise and loving the 
father might be, he could not say to his little flock, as 
Jesus did when he went away, " Do not be afraid, little 
children ; though you cannot see me, I shall always be 
with you, and nothing can harm you ; you can always 
speak to me, and I shall hear and answer ; I will tell you 
where to go and what to do, and whatever you ask for I 
will give you, unless it is something that would not be 
best for you." 

If the father could do all this for his children, they 
would not be afraid to have him leave them even in a 
desert where there were wild beasts and cruel enemies. 
When our Lord Jesus spoke his last comforting words to 
his disciples before he went away, he knew how lonely 



OUR PLACE IN HEAVEN. 237 

they would be, with enemies all about them, with no 
homes to live in, and their dear Master gone from them 
to heaven. So he said to them, ''Fear not, little flock; 
let not your heart be troubled : trust in me ; I will take 
care of you." 

Let us try to think about them in that chamber hav- 
ing their last talk with Jesus, just as if we were there 
too, looking in his face and hearing his words — for he 
thought about us when he said, '' Let not your heart be 
troubled." If any little child had been there, Jesus 
would have put his arm about it and drawn it close up 
to him while he talked, and told zvhy he was going, and 
where he was going, and how all who loved him might 
come and be with him. 

We know where he was going : he was going back to 
our Father's house in heaven, where he lived before he 
came to earth ; but now hear what he says about that 
beautiful home. He says, " In my Father's house are 
many mansions." A mansion means an abiding place, 
a home to stay in always ; for when we go to our 
F'ather's house we shall never need to go away again. 
It would be very hard to go and stay a little while in a 
beautiful palace, wearing royal robes, fed with dainty 
food, hearing delicious music, surrounded by everyone 
whom we loved, and so happy there was not a thing to 
trouble us, and then go back to be poor and sick and home- 
less and alone. So Jesus wants us to remember that our 
heavenly home is the home from which we never go away. 

No matter how large our homes on earth are, there 
cannot be room for everyone ; but Jesus says in our 
Father's house there will be so many mansions that 
everyone may have a place. For just as the mother 
knows everyone of her children, and never forgets to 



238 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

care for each one, so our Father sees and knows every 
child of his, and makes room for everyone in his home. 

But there is something more wonderful still about 
our home in heaven. Jesus said, " I go to prepare a 
place for you ; " so when we come we shall find that 
for everyone a special place has been prepared — ^just 
such a place as will suit us best. We do not know what 
heaven will be like, or whether we shall all want the 
same things, but we do know that our Father will give 
just what will make us happiest, and we shall find every- 
thing ready for us. 

Sometimes when a house on earth has been made 
ready for a dear child who is expected home, and every- 
one is waiting to welcome him back, he does not come, 
and the father and mother wait and watch and grow 
sad and heart-broken. Would it not be a sorrowful thing 
if those for whom Jesus has prepared places in heaven 
should never find the way to their home? How can they 
be sure to find the way ? Jesus thought of that. He 
said he would come again and bring us, so that we 
might be with him. He said, " I am the zuay, the truth, 
and the life !'' He puts into our hearts the new life that 
makes us children of the light ; he teaches us all things 
that we need to know, and leads us so gently that we 
need never miss the way if we follow him. Though 
we cannot see him, we can speak to him and be sure 
that he does come to every one of us. When we are 
sorry because we have done wrong, if we speak to him, 
we may be sure he says to us, " Let not your heart 
be troubled ; trust in me ; I am the way, I will lead 
you; I am the truth, I will teach you; I am the life, 
I will never leave you ; I have prepared a place for 
you, I will come and receive you." 



THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE. 239 



CHAPTER LXI. . 

THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE. 

We have talked of some of the things that our Lord 
said at that last passover supper, but there are many 
more precious words spoken to the disciples he called 
his own, but spoken also for us. Although Jesus had 
heard them disputing among themselves who should be 
accounted the greatest, he did not openly rebuke them. 
It seems as if his heart was so full of tenderness that he 
could not bear to do it ; but after giving them a lesson 
by doing for them what they were not willing to do for 
each other, he told them in a very gentle way how they 
should seek for greatness, and what they should count 
the highest place. He told them that in his kingdom 
the one who was humblest should be the greatest ; that 
the chief honor was to be in serving others, and not in 
being served ; because those who so lived and loved and 
humbled themselves for love's sake were most like Christ, 
who had set them the example of such a life. 

The disciples might well have been ashamed of their 
foolish disputes and their unwillingness to serve. No 
doubt some of them thought, *' He will think we do not 
love him at all, that we are selfish and ambitious and 
only think of ourselves." But Jesus knew their hearts; 
he knew they did love him. He said in his prayer, 
** These are thine ; they have kept thy word, I am glo- 
rified in them ; " and now, after his words of gentle 
reproof and instruction, he adds, " Ye are they which 



240 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

have continued with me in my temptations." In spite 
of all their faults and imperfections they had been ready 
to meet trial and danger with their Master, they had 
forsaken all to follow him, and he left them this com- 
forting assurance, that their faithfulness was precious to 
him. So no disciple who truly loves his Lord need be 
discouraged over his own failures and imperfections or 
feel that he is of no use to his Master. The most pre- 
cious thing in the world is love and sympathy, and where 
we are sure of this we can overlook the mistakes our. 
friends make in trying to serve us. We say sometimes 
of a child, *' He means well, but he forgets ; he means 
well, but he does not understand;" and so we have 
patience and go on teaching, training, forgiving, and 
always loving, never saying harsh or unkind or discour- 
aging things, but helping the child to be what we wish 
him to be. Just so our Father accepts and loves and 
encourages his children. 

Sometimes in a pleasant, comfortable home, when the 
family are gathered about the table, the face of the 
father is sad, and he sighs as he looks at his children. If 
he should tell you what it is that troubles him he would 
say that it was because some of his children had done 
wrong, because they were not honest and obedient and 
loving, and he was afraid they were not growing up to 
be good men and women. Perhaps the children might 
seem to a stranger to be all right, they might be pleasant 
and bright and industrious, but the father who watched 
them every day could see that evil things were growing 
in their hearts and that they were listening to evil coun- 
selors and going in evil ways, and so his own heart 
would be greatly troubled, especially if he was going 
away to leave his children, 



THE SPIRIT OF SERVICE. 24! 

That is the way it was with our Lord Jesus when the 
last night of his hfe had come and he was at supper 
with his disciples, all alone in the upper chamber. He 
had just given them the beautiful lesson about serving 
each other, and now as they were still at the table he 
looked around at them all and his heart grew heavy 
with sorrow. None of them had done anything wrong, 
but Jesus Christ did not have to wait for actions. He 
could look into all their hearts and see the evil thought, 
he could look forward and see what was going to hap- 
pen by and by, just as we can look back and see what 
happened yesterday. He looked into the heart of one 
of these disciples and saw that he had made up his mind 
to betray him intp the hands of those who hated him ; 
and he was so troubled that he could hardly speak to 
them about it. And then he looked into the heart of 
Peter, who really loved his Master dearly, and thought 
he would do anything for him, and saw that he was not 
brave enough to stand by him when trouble came, but 
was trusting in his own strength instead of God's help. 

Our fathers and mothers are sorry for what we do, but 
Jesus is sorry for what we are. He was grieved that 
Judas should have a heart that could betray him, and 
Peter a heart that could deny him. When he turned to 
his disciples and said, " Verily, verily, I say unto you 
that one of you shall betray me," they just looked at 
each other and wondered, and Peter made a sign to John, 
who was nearest Jesus, to ask him which one it was. 
John was the one whom Jesus loved best, and he leaned 
back against Jesus's breast and asked him, " Lord, who 
is it ? " Probably he whispered, and Jesus whispered 
back. He did not tell the name, but he gave him a 
sign by which he might know, and John saw that it was 
16 



242 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

Judas. Judas saw too that the Lord read his heart and 
knew all his base plannings to sell him to his ene- 
mies, and that he was just watching for a chance to fulfill 
his promise and get his money. Jesus said to him, 
'' What thou doest, do quickly," and Judas did not need 
to ask, *' What do you mean ? " Perhaps for a minute 
he was ashamed before those loving, all-seeing eyes, but 
he gave himself up to Satan and Satan took possession 
of him. The Bible says, ''Satan entered into him," as 
if this wicked spirit came to live in him and use his lips 
and his eyes and his feet and his hands. Satan said to 
Judas, "Come awa}^ from here, I want you." And Ju- 
das went out immediately to do Satan's work and be 
Satan's slave. 




THE COMFORTER, THE TEACHER, THE GUIDE. 243 



CHAPTER LXII. 

THE COMFORTER, THE TEACHER, THE GUIDE. 

There were a great many things that the Lord Jesus 
told his disciples which they could not understand. 
They did not understand what he meant when he talked 
of going away in a little while so that they would not 
see him. They were full of sorrow when he said he was 
going to leave them ; they did not understand wdiat he 
meant by his Father's house and the many mansions he 
was going to prepare for them, or how, if he did really 
go away to heaven, he could come back to them and 
comfort them, as he promised he would do. 

They looked at each other and said, "■ Where is he 
going? what does he mean? He says, 'A httle while 
and ye shall not see me, and again a Httle while and ye 
shall see me.' If he only would stay wdth us and teach 
us, that is all we want." 

Jesus saw how sad and how troubled they were, and 
he cried, " Your hearts are full of sorrow because I have 
told you these things. You think only about my leaving 
you ; you do not think where I am going, and why I 
am going away. I am going away because it is best for 
you. When I am gone I will send the Comforter unto 
}'ou, to be your teacher and guide." 

Could anyone be better than Jesus? It must be so, 
for Jesus liimself said it. If he were here with us to- 
day in his human body, as he was with liis disciples, we 
could see him with our eyes and hear his words with our 



244 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

ears ; but we cannot understand the things of God just 
by seeing and hearing. Our souls must be taught. God 
must speak to them and teach them by the voice which 
we call the Holy Spirit. This is what Jesus meant by 
the Comforter. The disciples did not listen for that 
voice while they had Jesus, or perhaps they would not 
yet understand what the voice said to them, and so they 
had to wait until Jesus had gone away before they really 
understood what he had tried to teach them. 

Jesus was God's voice speaking to men through hu- 
man lips ; this Comforter is God's voice speaking to our 
souls without any human lips. Jesus could only speak 
to those that were right about him ; this Comforter can 
speak to every soul all over the world — to the poor peo- 
ple in India and China, who have no other teacher, and 
to you and me. 

The disciples did not understand how much they 
needed teaching and guiding, but they knew they needed 
comforting if their dear Master was going away ; so the 
first thing which Jesus promised them was that he would 
send them a Comforter to turn their sorrow into joy. If 
you were crying because your father had left you alone 
in a strange place, and some one should be sent to you, 
the first thing to do would be to comfort you, to wipe 
away your tears, and say, " Don't cry, dear child ; your 
father has not forgotten you ; he has only gone a little 
way ; he will come presently and take you home with 
him." This is just what the precious Comforter which 
Jesus sent after he went away did for the disciples, and 
this is what he is doing this very, day to comfort every 
one of us who looks to God in sorrow and trouble. 

This Holy Spirit which Jesus promised to send was 
to be something more than just a comforter. He was to 



THE COMFORTER, THE TEACHER, THE GUH^E. 245 

be a teacher also. Jesus was a teacher, but we have 
seen that even the disciples who loved him best did not 
always understand what he taught them. But Jesus told 
them that after he was gone this heavenly Teacher, 
whom they could not see, would bring again to their re- 
membrance all that he had said to them, and then they 
should understand. Jesus said, ^' I have yet many things 
to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now," but he 
promised them that this divine Teacher would make all 
things plain and clear. Fie would teach them all about 
Jesus, and help them to see how it was his glory and 
honor to lay down his life that he might save us. He 
would show them the wonderful things that were com- 
ing by and by when Jesus shall be King of earth and 
heaven, and his happy people shall be with him. These 
are only a few of the things, for Jesus said this Teacher 
should guide them into all truth, teach them all they 
needed to know about the way to heaven. 

This Comforter, this Teacher, is also a sure Guide. 
Jesus said, " He that foUoweth me shall not walk in 
darkness, but shall have the light of life." That must 
mean that if we really mean to follow Jesus he will make 
the way so clear and bright that we need not miss it. 
So, though he went away from his disciples and from us, 
it is just as if he stood at the door holding a light that 
we might see to come home ; as if he sent a messenger 
to walk close before us and light every step ; as if he put 
in our very hearts a light to make darkness bright about 
us. Let us thank him for this blessed Comforter, this 
divine Teacher, this sure Guide, and ask that he will 
teach us all we need to know and lead us to our Father's 
house. 



246 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LXIII. 

JESUS BETRAYED. 

I DO not like to talk to you about the rest of this 
story. You have heard it a great many times, and I am 
afraid some of you will listen without really feeling that 
you are speaking about the cruel and sorrowful death of 
your best and dearest Friend, who gladly bore all this 
suffering that he might show you how he loved you and 
persuade you to let him save you from your sins. Per- 
haps this very day you have sung the story, and while 
your lips were saying, 

" I will sing of my Redeemer 
And his wondrous love to me," 

you \vere looking about the room and thinking of some- 
thing else. What if your own dear father had given him- 
self up to be murdered by cruel robbers, so that his 
children might escape from them ? And supposing I 
should come to you and say, '' I was with your father 
that last night ; we were out in the garden together, 
Me knew they were going to torture and kill him, and 
he might have gone away safely, but he gave himself up 
just to save you. ^ I will tell you what he said, and all 
about it." Don't you think you would listen to every 
word ? The tears would run down your face, and your 
heart would almost break to hear about it. You would say, 
'' My dear P'ather ! how he must have loved me! If I 
could only see him I would never do a thing to grieve 



JESUS BETRAYED. 247 

him ; it would be dreadful that he should suffer such pain 
for nothing." 

Will you try to think in this way while we talk about the 
night when the One who loves you dearest was betrayed 
into the hands of cruel murderers? John, who tells us 
the story, was with Jesus all the time. He tells us that 
Jesus loved his disciples so much that he did not think 
about his own death that was so soon coming, but kept 
on telling them not to be troubled, comforting and ad- 
vising them, and at last praying for them with all the 
loving words and earnest pleading which we studied in 
our last lesson. 

Now let John tell us how they all went away over 
the little brook Kedron, into a garden where they had 
often gone before. It was midnight, but the moon was 
full and bright, so it was light in the garden, except 
under the shadow of the great olive trees. The wicked 
Judas was not with the other disciples. He had gone to 
the chief priests, and taken the money they gave him, and 
now he w^as leading the band of soldiers and showing them 
the way to the garden. They had swords and spears, 
and they carried lanterns and torches, because they had 
to pass througli a deep, dark ravine to get to the garden, 
or perhaps they thought Jesus would hide away in some 
cave among the rocks. 

But Jesus did not hide. He knew all things that were 
coming to him. If he had wished he could have called 
down thousands of shining angels to guard him ; but he 
chose to die for you and mc. He would rather suffer 
than that we should miss the way to our Father's arms. 

The soldiers came nearer, and there among them was 
Judas. lie came up to Josus and kissed him as if he 
loved him ; but the kiss M'as only for a sign by which the 




JESUS BETRAYED AND TAKEN. 
Then Jesus said unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath. 



JESUS BETRAYED. 249 

soldiers might know Jesus. They did not need any 
sign, for Jesus himself stepped forward to meet them, 
told them who he was, and asked them to take him if 
they chose, but to let his disciples go safely away. 

When the soldiers first heard his voice telling them, 
" I am Jesus," their hearts were filled with a strange 
fear; they went backward and fell to the ground. But 
Jesus spoke again, so gently they came again toward 
him. Perhaps the priests who hated Jesus shamed them 
for being afraid, and the servant of the high priest 
pressed forward to be the first to lay his hand on him. 
Should you not think the disciples would have defended 
their Master ? One of them tried to do so. Peter had 
a sword, and Avhen he saw this servant of the high priest 
pressing forward so eagerly he drew out his sword and 
struck at him, but he struck so hastily that he only cut 
off his right ear. 

Peter did not wait to ask Jesus what he wished him to 
do ; but Jesus did not wish anyone to fight for him. 
He told Peter to put up his sword ; he reached out his 
pitying hand and did one more act of mercy by touch- 
ing the man's ear and healing it. Jesus said, '' The cup 
my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" He 
came into the world on purpose that he might bring us 
to God, and no suffering could make him turn back 
before the work was finished, and he could say, *' See 
how God loved the world that he gave himself to save it." 

The band and the captain and officers of the Jews took 
Jesus and bound him and led him away to the high 
priest's palace. All the disciples fled away excepting 
Peter and John. They followed after and came into 
the palace, John went in at once, because he was ac- 
quainted with the high priest ; but Peter stood outside 




PETER DENIES HIS LORD. 
And he denied, saying, I know him not.' 



JESUS BETRAYED. 



251 



until John remembered him, and met and spoke to the 
doorkeeper to let him in. 

It was cold in the early morning, and they stood 
around a fire warming themselves and waiting to see 
what shoukl be done with Jesus. Peter thought he was 
very brave, but this was the time when he became so 
frightened at the questions of those about him that he 
said he did not even know the Lord Jesus. Poor 
Peter! let us be sorry for him, for when the Lord just 
turned and looked at him his heart almost broke. He 
went out weeping bitterly, and feeling as if, whatever 
happened, Jesus would never love him again. 




252 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LXIV. 

A CRUEL PEOPLE. 

We have learned how Judas helped the enemies of our 
Lord Jesus to seize him, that they might put him to 
d'eath. The part of Judas seem.s to us the very worst 
•and meanest of all. He did not hate Jesus ; he lived 
with him and saw him every day, and knew how good 
and loving and holy he Avas, yet he was willing to help 
his enemies for the sake of a little money. 

Now Judas has done his part, and the high priest has 
done his part. The soldiers took Jesus to the palace of 
the high priest first, who would have been glad to have 
him put to death at once. But the high priest himself, 
and all the Jewish people, had a ruler whom they had 
to obey, and that was Pilate, the Roman governor. The 
emperor of the Romans had conquered the Jews, so he 
sent a governor to rule them and made laws to say 
what they must do. One law was that they could not 
put anyone to death. If a man did anything very bad 
he must be tried before the Roman governor, and he 
could have him put to death if he deserved it. This 
would have been a very good law if the Roman governor 
had been a good man ; but Pilate did not care about 
doing right ; he wished only to please the people, so 
that they would not complain to the king and have him 
sent away or put in prison. So, when the high priest 
had asked Jesus a few questions and heard what the false 
witnesses had to say about him — when, in spite of his 




ANCIENT BUILDING AT JERUSALEM CALLED " PILATE'S JUDGMENT HALL.' 



254 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

gentle words and wise answers, the cruel people about 
him had smitten him and spit upon him and abused 
him — the soldiers led him away from the palace to the 
judgment hall of the governor, to ask that he might be 
put to death. 

The soldiers took Jesus into the room where Pilate 
was waiting, but the Jews themselves waited outside. 
They thought if they even touched one of the Roman 
people it would make them so impure they could not go 
to the temple to join in the great service of praise and 
thanksgiving that day at the Feast of the Passover. 
They did not understand that when God commanded 
that their bodies and their garments should be kept 
even from the touch of anything impure when they 
came into his house he only wished to help them re- 
member how the touch of sin would make the heart im- 
pure, and that he would not accept their worship unless 
they turned away from all sin. While they were so 
careful to keep their bodies from being defiled their 
hearts, which were all open to the sight of God, were full 
of cruel hatred and eager for the murder of an innocent 
man. They were just as wrong and foolish as we are 
when we think we are good because we go to church, 
and read the Bible, and say our prayers, and yet do not 
really love God or love each other. 

When Pilate saw the people waiting he went out into 
the court and talked to them. He asked them why 
they had brought Jesus there and why they did not 
punish him themselves ; but when he found out they 
wanted him to be put to death he went back and called 
Jesus to him and began to talk to him. Pilate was not 
a good man, but he was not so cruel as some of the gov- 
ernors had been, who delighted to torture innocent peo- 



A CRUEL TEOPLE. 255 

pie and see them suffer. Pilate would rather do right 
when it was easy and pleasant, but he did not believe 
that the right way was always the best way, whether it 
was easy or hard. When he talked with Jesus he saw 
that he was not like anyone whom he ever met before. 
He asked him, "Are you a king?" and Jesus said, 
" Yes, I am a king, but my kingdom is not of this world ; 
my servants do not fight for me. I came into this world 
to teach people the truth, and everyone whose heart is 
true will listen to my voice and obey me." 

Pikite knew his heart was not true; he was not one of 
the children of truth ; when God spoke to him he did 
not listen, but he felt sure this must be a good man, 
and he wanted to save him. He was afraid to put him 
to death, for fear something might happen to him to 
punish him, so he went out again to try to persuade the 
Jews to let him go free. 

The first thing he said was : 

" I find in him no fault at all.'* 

Was that the same as saying Jesus should go free ? 
No, for the Romans often put innocent people to death, 
and let the very wicked ones go free. Every feast day 
they released a prisoner to please the people, no matter 
how bad he had been ; but now, when Pilate offered to 
set Jesus free, they would not have him ; they chose 
Barabbas instead, a cruel robber who had killed people. 
How could the chief priests, who had been taught from 
God's word, wish to have this tender Friend, whose 
whole life had been spent in doing good, put to a cruel 
death? Because evil once let into our hearts grows all 
the time stronger and bolder; bitter thoughts grow to 
hatred, and hatred to murder. The chief priests were 
envious because the people listened to Jesus rather than 



A CRUEL PEOPLE. 



25? 



to them ; then they liated him for teUing them they were 
not good and true and honest ; then they determined to 
have him put to death, and the evil purpose grew every 
moment stronger and stronger, until they were like wild 
beasts raging for blood. So, though no one could find 
any fault in Jesus, they cried out against him, and would 
not let Pilate set him free. All the people joined with 
them, and shouted angrily : 

" Not this man, but Barabbas." 

They were ready enough to do their part, and they 
meant to make Pilate do his. 




17 



258 HOME TALKS AT30UT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LXV. 

JESUS DELIVERED TO BE CRUCIFIED. 

Pilate was a heathen, and had been taught that the 
gods whom he worshiped often put on the forms of poor 
men, and went among people. Those who were kind 
to them they would afterward reward with great honor, 
and those who despised them they would punish. So 
Pilate was afraid to put Jesus to death, and when his 
wife sent word to him that she had dreamed dreadful 
dreams about him, and begged him not to have an)'thing 
to do with that good man, he determined in some way 
to release him or throw the blame upon some one else. 
Does it take the blame from us to let other people do 
wrong when we might prevent it? 

Pilate tried several ways to get rid of the blame of 
wrongdoing. 

1. First he tried to get the chief priests to punish 
Jesus themselves. Why would they not do it? Would 
this have cleared Pilate ? 

2. Then he offered to release him, even if he deserved 
to die. If they had chosen Jesus instead of Barabbas 
would this have cleared Pilate? 

3. Then he tried to get Herod, the governor of Gali- 
lee, to judge Jesus, but Herod sent him back. If Herod 
had put him to death would Pilate have been any less 
to blame? 

4. Then he had his cruel soldiers beat Jesus. They 
put a crown of thorns upon his head and clothed him 



26o HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

in a purple robe, such as kings wear. They came up to 
him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews," as if they were 
going to worship him, and then struck him with their 
hands. Pilate hoped the Jews would be satisfied with 
this punishment, and that when they saw this poor, 
weary, bleeding sufferer they would be ashamed of their 
hatred. But when he brought Jesus out to them and 
said again, " I find no fault in him," they only cried out 
more fiercely than ever, " Crucify him ! crucify him ! " 

*5. Pilate talked once more with Jesus, and once more 
he tried to persuade the Jews to release him ; but when 
they said, "If you let this man go you are not a friend 
to Caesar, the emperor of Rome, who sent you here," he 
dared not say anything more. He knew that these 
Jews, who hated this innocent man, could easily per- 
suade Caesar to put him also to death, so he gave up 
trying to save Jesus. He brought him out before them 
and said to them, " I am innocent of the blood of this 
just person ; if you put him to death you shall bear the 
blame," and he Avashed his hands before them, as if he 
were washing off the blood from himself. The people 
answered, "We will bear the blame. His blood be on 
us, and on our children." So Pilate gave Jesus up into 
their hands, and they took him and led him away. The 
dreadful sin was indeed upon them, but could Pilate get 
rid of his part in any way? He could have prevented 
the wrong, and so it was his wrong. 

We talk and read and think about the sufferings of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may not forget the won- 
derful love and pity which brought him to earth and 
made him patiently bear such pain and wrong and sor- 
row for us. When our hearts are full of anger toward 
the cruel hands that smote him we must remember that 



JESUS DELIVERED TO BE CRUCIFIED. 261 

if sin had not been in the world the Saviour need not 
have come to suffer and die, and if we are truly grieved 
over his sufferings we shall let him draw us away from 
sin. It is as if by your disobedience you had fallen 
into the power of savages and your father had been 
burned and cut and wounded in trying to save you. 
Would it not be pitiful if, after all this, you would not 
go home with him ? And whenever you saw his wounded 
hands or thought of what he had suffered, would you 
not say: "It was to save me that my dear father bore 
such things ; all I can do to show my sorrow is to be 
loving and obedient now ; to be always careful to please 
him and help him to take care of the others? " 

The Lord let his servant, Isaiah, who lived hundreds 
of years before Jesus Christ was born, write down be- 
forehand all about the Saviour who was coming. 
Isaiah saw these very things, and he told how Jesus 
would be beaten and mocked and crucified ; and yet he 
said that by and by, when he saw us saved from our 
sins by this pain and sorrow, he would be satisfied. You 
are one for whom he died ; when he looks at you to-day 
is he satisfied because you have opened your heart to 
his Spirit and let him dwell in you and teach you? 




262 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD, 



CHAPTER LXVI. 

JESUS CRUCIFIED. 

Only about a week has passed since Jesus rode 
through the streets of Jerusalem surrounded by chil- 
dren singing " Hosanna," and by multitudes of people 
who shouted, '' Blessed is he that cometh in the name 
of the Lord," Now he is taking a sorrowful journey 
through the same streets, faint and weary and bleeding. 
The soldiers who had charge of him laid upon his 
bruised shoulders the heavy cross upon which he was to 
be crucified, but he was too weal: to bear it, so they made 
a man whom they met coming out of the country take 
it and carry it, ^yhile a crowd followed after, to the place 
outside the gates where Jesus was to be crucified. 

They were not all crufcl people. Some of them 
were women, who wept aloud as they went, but Jesus 
turned and spoke to them. He told them not to weep 
for him, but for themselves and their children, because 
of the trouble that would soon come upon their people. 

They went on until they came to the place, and then 
they crucified him, and two thieves also, one on his right 
hand and one on his left. Over the cross to which he 
was nailed they put a writing which Pilate had prepared, 
to let every one know who this was who was to be cru- 
cified. It said, '* Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the 
Jews," and it was in three languages, so that all could 
read. The chief priests did not wish to have it said that 
their king was crucified, so they asked Pilate to change 



264 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

the writing, and make it, " He said, I am King of the 
Jews;" but Pilate would not. He was angry with the 
Jews because they had urged him on to do what he 
knew was wrong, and he only said, " What I have writ- 
ten I have written," and sent them away. 

The Roman soldiers were accustomed to see and to do 
cruel things, and they had no pity for suffering. They 
divided the garments of our Lord into four parts, one 
for each soldier, and then they cast lots to see who 
should have the beautiful woven coat which was to wear 
next the body. Instead of pitying Jesus they mocked 
at him, and so did the chief priests and the rulers who 
came to look on. They said, " He saved others, let him 
save himself if he be Christ, the chosen of God." The 
people that passed by shook their heads and mocked 
him also, and said, " Let Christ the King of Israel come 
down now^ from the cross, that w^e may see and believe." 
One of the thieves who was crucified mocked also, and 
said, " If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us;" but 
the other thief rebuked him. He said, '' Are you not 
afraid to talk so when you are just going to die? We, 
indeed, deserve to die, but this man has done nothing 
Avrong;" and then he prayed to Jesus, '' Lord, remember 
me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Even in that 
dreadful hour Jesus heard his prayer, forgave his sins, 
and promised, " This day shalt thou be with me in par- 
adise." But there were not all hard hearts around the 
cross. Some of the friends of Jesus were watching afar 
off, hoping that, after all, their dear Master would strike 
down his enemies and save himself. And near the cross 
were a few whom no danger could drive away. There 
was the mother of Jesus and three other women, and 
with them was John, the disciple whom Jesus loved 



JESUS CRUCIFIED. 265 

best. When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the 
disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his 
mother, " Woman, behold thy son ! " And to John he 
said, " Behold thy mother ! " So from that hour John 
took the mother of Jesus to his own home to love and 
care for. 

And now even the careless soldiers could see that 
something strange was taking place. The sun began to 
grow dim, and for three hours all was black darkness. 
The earth shook and trembled, the beautiful veil that 
hung in the temple before the most holy place was torn 
in two, the rocks were rent and the graves were opened. 
The sufferings of our Lord Jesus were almost ended. 
He said, '' I thirst," and they dipped a sponge in vine- 
gar and raised it to his lips. Then he spoke his last 
words, " It is finished," and bowed his head and died. 
All the suffering of his life on earth, all its pain and sor- 
row and weariness, were finished ; all the work that he 
came to do in a human body was finished. But his 
work for our salvation goes on always, because, as the 
Bible says, " He ever llveth to make intercession for 
us." 

Could anyone believe that this was only a man at 
whose death the sun v;as darkened, the earth shook, and 
the graves were opened ? Even the Roman centurion 
said, "Certainly this was a righteous man," and the 
people who were looking on smote upon their breasts 
as they remembered how they had cried out, " Crucify 
him," and said, " His blood be on us and on our chil- 
dren." 

For a little while our Lord is to be the prisoner of 
death, but we shall soon sec him again as the King and 
Conqueror, 



266 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LXVII. 

JESUS RISEN. 

Among the friends of Jesus who loved him most ten- 
derly were many women, and some of their names are 
mentioned in the Bible. First, of course, was Mary, his 
mother, and there were two other Marys, the mother of 
James and a Mary who was called Magdalene, because 
she lived in the little town of Magdala. Then there was 
Joanna, and Susanna, and many others who used to min- 
ister to Jesus when he went about from city to city sup- 
plying his needs and caring for him.. They stood weeping 
and watching when Jesus was crucified ; some of them 
saw him wrapped in fine linen and laid in the tomb in 
Joseph's garden, a tomb cut out of the rock and closed 
with a great stone in place of a door. Then they went 
away home, for the Jewish Sabbath was just beginning, 
and they could not do anything until the Sabbath was 
over. They never dreamed of seeing their dear Lord 
alive again ; they thought all was over, and the only 
thing they could do was to honor him by embalming 
his precious body with sweet spices, that it might not so 
quickly decay and turn again to dust. 

The women could not wait for sunrise, but as soon as 
it began to grow light, toward the dawning of the day, 
they took their spices and ointments and started on 
their way. There were three of them, Mary the mother 
of James, Mary Magdalene, and Salome, the woman 
who had once asked Jesus to let her two sons sit, one 



(T) W 







268 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

on his right hand and the other on his left, in his king- 
dom. As they went they talked among themselves 
about that great stone that closed up the chamber in 
the rock. There was room enough for several people to 
go into the chamber, but they did not see how they 
could get that stone out of the way. They said, '' Who 
shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepul- 
cher?" But still they went on, and when they came 
near they saw that the stone ivas rolled away. They 
were not at all afraid, only glad, and they hastened on 
and went into the sepulcher, probably thinking that 
James or John or Peter had come there before them. 
When they entered, instead of the dead body wrapped 
in linen, they saw only a young man sitting on one side 
clothed in a long white garment, and they were afraid. 

The angel bade them not be afraid, for Jesus, whom 
they were seeking, was risen. He bade them look at the 
place where he had lain and see that it was empty, and 
then go and tell the disciples, and esp<^cially Peter, that 
Jesus would meet them in Galilee, as he had promised. 
The women were so frightened and astonished that they 
fled away trembling, without stopping to tell anybody 
what they had seen. They ran to the house where the 
disciples were, and Mary Magdalene said to Peter and 
John, " They have taken aAvay the Lord out of the sepul- 
cher, and we know not where they have laid him.'' 

Peter did not wait to hear anymore ; he and John ran 
to the sepulcher; but John was the swifter runner, and 
got there first. While he was looking in Peter came up ; 
he went directly in, and then John followed him. They 
saw it was as Mary had said, the Lord was gone. There, 
lying by themselves, were the linen clothes in which he 
had been wrapped ; and they went away wondering. 



JESUS RISEN. 269 

But Mary could not go away. She stood weeping by 
the door of the sepulcher, and by and by she stooped 
and looked in to see if it could really be true that Jesus 
was gone. This time, instead of the one angel she saw 
two, one at the head and the other at the feet, where 
the body of Jesus had lain. They said, " Woman, 
why weepest thou?" Mary answered, "Because they 
have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they 
have laid him." Then she turned about and saw some 
one standing near her whom she supposed was the 
gardener, and he also asked her, " Woman, why weepest 
thou ? " Mary thought the gardener would surely know 
where they had taken the body of Jesus, and she began 
to beg him to tell her. Suddenly Jesus called her by 
her own name, and when he said "Mary!" her eyes 
were opened, and she knew that this was indeed her dear 
Lord alive from the dead. Now Jesus himself sent her 
to go and tell his disciples that he had risen, and Mary 
came to them as they mourned and wept with her won- 
derful story, not that the angels had told her Jesus was 
risen, but that she herself had seen him, heard his voice, 
and talked with him. 

Do you think they left off weeping and hastened to 
Galilee to meet him ? No, they did not believe Mary ; 
they thought she had only seen a vision, and when after- 
ward two other disciples came and told them how Jesus 
had appeared to them as they went into the country and 
walked with them, still they did not believe. Only 
those who really saw Jesus could believe that he was 
alive, but by and by they all had a chance to see 
him and to understand that, as Christ had risen from the 
dead, so all who loved him should also rise. 



270 HOxME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LXVIII. 

VISITS FROM JESUS. 

After his resurrection the Lord Jesus did not Hve 
with his disciples as he used to do. He showed himself 
to them a good many times, so that they might be sure 
he had really risen from the dead ; but sometimes when 
he was with them they could not see him, sometimes 
when they thought they were all alone he suddenly ap- 
peared among them, and sometimes he vanished from 
their sight. 

The very day on which he appeared to Mary two of 
the disciples were taking a long walk together to the little 
village of Emmaus, and all at once Jesus joined them. 
They did not know who it was, and he talked with them 
about the crucifixion and explained to them why Christ 
had died. They were so interested in what he said that 
they begged him to stay with them, and when they 
were going to eat, and Jesus was just giving thanks for 
the food, suddenly their eyes were opened and they 
knew him, but he vanished instantly from their sight. 

The two disciples were so filled with wonder and glad- 
ness that they could not wait till morning, but hastened 
back that night to tell the news to the rest. They found 
the whole company gathered together in a room, with 
the doors shut, for fear of the Jews, and they began to 
tell the story. While they were yet talking Jesus him- 
self stood in the midst and said unto them, " Peace be 
unto you." At first they were frightened ; they could 



VISITS FROM JESUS. 27 I 

not believe that this really was their dear Master in the 
very same body which they had seen nailed to the cross 
and laid dead and helpless in the tomb. But Jesus said, 
" Why are you troubled ? " He bade them look at him 
and see that it really was himself, and showed them his 
hands and his feet, and told them to handle him, and see 
that he had flesh and bones, as he used to have, and he 
even asked them for some food, and ate before them. 
And when they were full of joy, yet felt that this was 
almost too good to be true, Jesus reminded them how 
often he had told them about his death and resurrection ; 
and he opened their hearts to receive the Holy Spirit, 
so that they might understand what he had taught them 
and what was written about him in the Scriptures. He 
said again, "Peace be unto you," ''As my Father hath 
sent me, even so send I you.'* 

Now, one of the disciples, called Thomas, was not with 
the rest when Jesus came. We do not know why he 
was away, but there may have been some good reason 
for it. We know he loved Jesus and was willing to risk 
his life for him, but when the others told him about that 
wonderful evening when Jesus stood among them and 
talked with them Thomas thought there must be some 
mistake about it, and he said he never could believe unless 
he saw with his own eyes what they had seen and even 
touched with his finger the print of the nails and put 
his hand into the wound in his side. Perhaps the others 
talked to Thomas and said, " It certainly was the Lord ; 
we saw him, and heard his voice, and knew that it 
was he." But Thomas would say, "You did not be- 
lieve until you had seen for yourselves. When Mary 
and the others said they had seen him you thought it was 
only a vision. I must see him too, or I will not believe, 



2/2 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

and I will not trust my eyes ; I must touch him with 
my hands, that I may be sure it is the very same Jesus." 
It was eight days before Thomas saw Jesus, but then, 
when they were again in the room, with the doors shut, 
there stood Jesus in their midst, saying, just as he had 
said before, '* Peace be unto you." How eagerly Thomas 
must have gazed at him, thinking, '' Yes, that really does 
seem to be the Master ; I am almost sure." And very 
likely Peter whispered, " Now, then, Thomas, what did 
we tell you ? " Then Jesus turned toward Thomas and 
said, in his own loving voice, " Reach hither thy finger, 
and behold my hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and 
thrust it into my side; and be not faithless, but believ- 
ing." Jesus knew the very words which Thomas had 
said, just as he now knows not only the words we speak 
but the very thoughts of our hearts ; and he repeated 
them, so that they all might know that he was just as 
truly present when they could not see and touch him as 
when their eyes looked into his face and their ears 
caught the sound of his voice. Thomas did not wish 
now to put his finger in the print of the nails ; he felt 
now as if he could believe without even seeing. He 
cried out, " My Lord and my God," and was ready to 
worship him. Jesus did not blame Thomas any more 
than the others for being so slow to believe. No doubt 
there were many among the women to whom Mary 
Magdalene told her story, and at Bethany, in the home 
of Lazarus, who did not wait to see, but believed the 
good tidings at once. Jesus knew who they were, and he 
remembered all the multitudes that by and by would be- 
lieve who never had seen his face. He only said, " Blessed 
are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." 



SIMON PETER, 273 



CHAPTER LXIX. 

SIMON PETER. 

Do you remember which of the disciples it was who 
followed Jesus to the judgment hall, and then was so 
afraid that he said three times, '' I never knew him ? " 
That was Peter, the very one who had said, " Though all 
men should deny thee, yet will not I. I will lay down 
my life for thy sake." 

Peter had a great deal of love, but not enough cour- 
age, and he did not always stop to think. After he said, 
'' I never knew him," Jesus turned and looked at him, 
and Peter's heart was almost broken. He went out and 
wept bitterly to think what he had done. 

But Peter really loved Jesus, and he did not say, " I 
am so bad he never will forgive me." He stayed v/ith 
the other disciples, and especially with John ; he was the 
very first man to go into the empty tomb after Jesus 
had risen ; he was with the rest when Jesus came into 
the room and said, " Peace be unto you ; " but he must 
have felt as if he never could be happy till Jesus had 
said some word to show that he still loved him and had 
forgiven him. 

Should you think Peter would have fallen at his feet, 
the time he saw him, and said, " O, my dear Master, for- 
give me for denying you, and do believe that I love 
you ? " That would have been like Peter's way, but I 
think he was growing wiser. He remembered how many 

foolish things he had said, and how he had boasted of 
18 



274 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

loving Jesus better than any of the others, and so he 
thought, " I will not speak any more hasty words or 
make any more promises. The Master can see my heart ; 
he knows I really do love him, and I will wait for him 
to speak." So Peter waited. 

But tlie disciples were all poor men, and it was neces- 
sary for them to work for a living, and one day Peter 
said, " I am going fishing ;" and some of the others said, 
*' We will go too." They went out on the Sea of Gali- 
lee, and dropped their net from the ship and then drew 
it in, and so they went on toiling all night, without 
catching anything. Early in the morning, when they 
must have been hungry and tired, they looked toward the 
shore, and saw a man standing there, as if he were wait- 
ing for them. This man called to them, " Children, 
have you anything to eat," and they said, " No." Then 
he said, " Cast the net on the right side of the boat and 
you shall find." They cast the net where he bade them, 
and caught so many great fishes that they could not 
draw it in ; and John said to Peter, " It is the Lord." 

Peter did not wait for the rest ; he fastened his coat 
about him, and jumped overboard to get to his Lord 
more quickly, while the others came in the boat, dragging 
the heavy net toward the shore. 

As they came on shore they saw another wonderful 
thing. There was breakfast all ready for them ; a fire of 
coals burning, fish laid upon the coals, and bread, and 
Jesus bade them come and eat. He himself waited 
upon them, and gave them the bread and the fish with 
his own hands, while they looked at him in wonder. 
They knew it was their Lord, but they did not dare to 
talk with him and ask him questions as they used to 
do. They waited for him to speak to them, and after 



SIMON PETER. 275 

they had eaten Jesus did speak. This time he spoke to 
Peter, who had been in such haste that he had jumped 
into the sea to get to him. He did not say a word about 
Peter's cowardly denial in the judgment hall. He asked 
a question : " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more 
than these ? " that is, " Do you love me as you once said 
you did, more tlian the other disciples do ? " 

You can see that Simon Peter had learned to be more 
careful about boasting, for he did not say, " Yes, truly I 
do." He had learned that he was not very wise about 
himself; but Jesus knew all about him, and could see just 
what was in his heart, and one thing Peter was sure of : 
there might be a great deal of weakness and sinfulness 
in his heart, but there certainly was love for Jesus in 
it ; so, without boasting at all, he only answered, ^' Yes, 
Lord, thou knowest that I love thee." Jesus did 
know it, and he told Peter how he was to prove his 
love : not by following Jesus, as he had once said he 
would, to prison and to death, for Jesus was presently 
going away into heaven ; not by words, but by deeds, 
by working for Jesus and doing such work as he him- 
self, the good Shepherd, came to do. Jesus said to 
him, '* Feed my lambs," and then afterward he asked the 
same question twice, and bade him, " Feed my sheep." 
Peter was sad because Jesus asked him the third time, 
"Lovest thou me?" but he never forgot that he was to 
show his love by caring for and teaching and guiding 
the young and the old in Christ's flock. 

Are you not glad that Jesus thought first of the little 
ones of his flock, and commanded that they should be 
fed out of his words, so that their souls might grow as 
well as their bodies? And are you not glad that we 
may all show our love to Jesus by giving the bread of 



2/6 



HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



life to others ? You know he said he would bless those 
who gave even a cup of cold water in his name, and he 
counts and remembers the smallest things we do for love's 
sake. Sometimes when children are asked, " Do you 
love the Lord Jesus?" they say, '' Yes," and think no 
more about it ; but what if Jesus sat here among us, as 
he did that day among his disciples, and looked into your 
eyes and said, '' Mary, do you love me ?" Then if you 
could honestly say, as Peter did, " You know I love you," 
he would bid you show your love by being loving to 
others, by showing a beautiful example of a gentle, obedi- 
ent life, by sharing what you have v\nth others, and trying 
to help them to be good. Every morning, when you 
waken, you may think Jesus whispers to you, '' Do you 
love me? Then try to show it to-day by helping some 
one. Let everyone see how my little ones live when 
their hearts are full of my love." 

I ought to tell you that Simon Peter obeyed this com- 
mand, that he gave his whole life to caring for and 
teaching the flock of God, that he did go cheerfully 
to prison, and finally death, for the sake of his Mas- 
ter, and counted it an honor that he could give his 
life for Jesus. 




LAST DAYS OF JESUS. 277 



CHAPTER LXX. 

LAST DAYS OF JESUS. 

When a dear friend has gone away from us to heaven 
we love to think over the last days he was with us and 
remember what he did and what he said. So, after the 
Lord Jesus went away to heaven, his disciples must have 
talked over all he had said to them, and some would re- 
member one thing and some another. It is not likely 
they were all with him every minute, and Andrew might 
say, " Do you remember that morning when our Lord 
was sitting opposite the treasury and saw the rich men 
putting their money in the box and letting every one 
know how much they put in ? " And John might say, 
'' Tell me all about it. I was not there. He had sent 
me to Bethany with a message to Mary and Martha." 

And then Philip might tell how a poor widow came 
with the rest, slipping quietly through the crowd, not 
expecting anyone to notice her, and dropped in two 
little mites that together made only a farthing, and then 
hastened away happy because she had done all she 
could ; and somehow a blessing seemed to come upon 
her. And the dear Lord had bidden his disciples look 
at her, and told them that she had done more than all 
the rich, because they would never miss what they had 
given, but this poor woman, in her love and her poverty, 
had given all she had. 

Then John and Matthew and Peter might each tell 
something that he remembered ; so from all their stories 



2/8 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

in the four gospels we may find out many things which 
Jesus said in this last week of his life on earth. 

One day, when Jesus was talking with them and with 
some people who had come to see him, he told them 
that the time had come when he was to be glorified. 
The disciples thought to be glorified meant to be made 
king and ruler over the people instead of going about as 
a poor, homeless man. But Jesus meant that he was 
going to be crucified, to be nailed upon the cross and 
put to death. Was not that a strange way to be made 
a king, to be laid in the grave and have all his work 
ended and lost ? But Jesus explained to them that he 
came into the world on purpose for this, that all his 
preaching and teaching and healing were only to prepare 
the way that he might die for all the world. 

Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, 
will draw all men unto me." Only a few had heard him 
preach, but the story of his life and death has been told 
everywhere, and wherever men listen their hearts are 
drawn to this King who loved them and gave his life for 
them. 

Jesus had everlasting life ; death could not hold him ; 
but it was not his wish to dwell in heaven without 
us. He loved us, and he wanted that we also should 
live where he was. And so he went down into the grave, 
and the Bible says he tasted death for every one of us, 
and then, by his glorious resurrection, he conquered 
death, and promised to make every one of us conquerors 
also, if we believe in him. 

Jesus told his disciples another strange thing, and 
that was that even when it seemed as if Satan had tri- 
umphed he was cast out of his kingdom. He had been 
called the prince of this world because he had so many 



LAS;r DAYS OF JESUS. 



279 



people to serve him, but Jesus was a stronger King, and 
lie was going to rule the world and draw all men to his 
service. Will we let him draw us to his service, give us 
everlasting life, conquer Satan for us ? Then we must 
see what were some of the last words he left for us, and 
how he told us to serve him. 

In this very talk he said, '' If any man serve me, let 
him follow me ; " so the one rule must be to live as Jesus 
lived, and try to be like him. That means, first of all, 
to live for others, to love them so much that we want to 
help them to be good and lead them to God. Only Je- 
sus can put this unselfish love in our hearts and give us 
wisdom to know how to live right ourselves and help 
others. He calls himself the Light of the world, and 
bids us look at him as he goes before us, and then we 
shall not stumble. He calls those who look to him for 
wisdom and listen for his words by a beautiful name. 
He calls them '^ the children of light " because Jesus, the 
Light of the world, dwells and shines in their hearts, 
and makes them like himself. What shall we remember 
of these last words of Jesus? We will remember this 
above all : that for us he has conquered death and Sa- 
tan ; that in his name we also may conquer ; that he calls 
us to follow him and serve him, and promises that we 
may be children of the light even here, and that by and by 
where he is we shall be also, loved and owned and hon- 
ored by our Father in heaven. 



280 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LXXI. 

THE ASCENDING LORD. 

I THINK the very happiest people in all the land of Pal- 
estine must have been a little company of friends who 
were taking a walk along the road toward Bethany on a 
bright day in the month of May. The grass was green, 
the trees were full of flowers, and the birds were singing. 
This little company of friends had taken a great many 
walks together, but never one like this. In the midst 
was the beloved Master, and the others walked close 
beside him, looking into his eyes, listening to his words, 
watching for a smile, and sometimes taking hold of his 
hands or his garments, and saying with happy tears, 

^' Yes, it is indeed He ; he has come back to us again, 
the dear, blessed Master, and now all the trouble is over." 

For this precious Master had been away from them. 
They thought they had lost him. They had seen him 
mocked and scourged and crucified, but had never 
quite given up all hope until he was actually dead and 
laid away in the grave. They had gone away with ach- 
ing hearts and thought it was all over. 

And then such a wonderful thing had happened. 
This same Jesus had come back to them again alive — 
though they surely had seen him dead — and walked, and 
talked, and eaten with them. It seemed too blessed to 
be true, and at first they could not believe it, but by and 
by they came to know that it was really true, and they 
almost feared to take their eyes away from him lest they 



THE ASCENDING LORD. 28 1 

should lose him again. But day by day they grew more 
sure, and began to wonder what their dear Master was 
going to do with those wicked men who had put him 
to death, and for his own chosen people, who did not 
believe on him. They asked him some questions about 
it as they walked along, but Jesus did not tell them 
what they wanted to know. He told them that the 
Father had his own plans, and it was not necessary 
that they should know about them, but that he had 
work for them to do all over the earth, and they must 
go and do it. They were to preach and to teach and 
to tell the story everywhere, to ever}/ body ; to the 
proud, haughty scribes and Pharisees, and the poor, 
hungry beggars in the street. The good news was for 
all people, just as the angels had sung when this Saviour 
was born to save his people from their sins. 

But they were not wise enough to go yet. They did 
not understand very much, although the Master had 
been teaching them for three years; but he told them 
to wait until God should send into their hearts a spirit 
of wisdom, to make everything clear and plain to them. 
This spirit of wisdom was called the Holy Ghost. It 
was God's own Spirit, and would take away all fear and 
give them power and strength to do their work. Once 
before when Jesus had told them about this Spirit he 
called it the Comforter, who would come to comfort 
them after he went away, and now when he spoke of it 
again I think John, who loved him best and was most 
like him, must have looked at him with a little ache in 
his heart, and thought, 

" Can he be going away again ? O, nothing is so good 
as having him with us. Nothing can comfort us if we 
lose him again." 



282 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

While they all looked at him a wondrous change 
came over the Master, and they saw him slowly taken 
up from their very midst, up, up toward heaven, till he 
was lost to sight in a cloud. And as they gazed after 
him a comforting voice spoke to them, and there be- 
side them were two men in shinino- garments who told 
them that some day this same Jesus would come again 
to them from heaven, just as they had seen him go away. 
They were not very wise yet, and perhaps they thought 
it would only be a few days until the Master came back ; 
but at any rate they remembered that he had told them 
to wait in Jerusalem until God gave them the spirit 
of power and wisdom, and so they went back to the 
city and went with the other disciples into an upper room 
and prayed and waited to see what the Father would 
tell them. 

It seemed like a very sorrowful ending to the beauti- 
ful walk, and as they went back some of them may have 
been weeping, just as you would weep if you had re- 
ceived a dear dead friend back from the grave, and then 
lost him again, just when you were beginning to believe 
that it was really true. 

It was so hard to believe that this was best, and to 
understand that this tender, sympathizing Master, who 
had walked with them on earth, would be their strong, 
glorious, compassionate Friend in heaven. But they 
talked it all over together in that upper room, and I sup- 
pose each one tried to recall something that Jesus had 
said or done ; and one would say, 

'* Don't you remember he said it was best for us that 
he should go away?" 

And another would say, 

"Don't you remember how the Master said, 'Ye 



THE ASCENDING LORD. 



283 



shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned 
into joy ? ' " 

"Yes, and, ' If I go away I will send the Comforter 
unto you.' " 

"The Comforter ! That is the Holy Ghost for which 
we were to wait. The Master said when he was come 
he should teach us all things and bring all things to our 
remembrance." 

"Perhaps the Father will send him -this very night," 
said another. 

So, talking and praying, they waited for the coming of 
this wonderful messenger. 




284 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 



CHAPTER LXXII. 

THE BELIEVING PEOPLE. 

I SUPPOSE when the Holy Ghost came upon the dis- 
ciples they were too happy to stay in that upper cham- 
ber. They wanted to tell the story, and when the people 
came running together there was no room for them, so 
perhaps they went out to the open court of the house. 
Every moment more and more people came in, mer- 
chants that had come up with goods to sell, workmen 
who were going along the streets, travelers who were 
visiting Jerusalem, and even priests from the temple. 
The news spread all through the city that here was a 
man called Peter, just a plain fisherman from Galilee, 
who was not learned at all, talking in a wonderful way 
about the things that had happened in Jerusalem and 
about the law. There he stood with the other disciples, 
and as he talked everyone listened. At first there may 
have been some talking and laughing among the crowd, 
but presently all was still, and as Peter went on to show 
them from the Scripture that Jesus whom they had cru- 
cified was indeed the Son of God they were filled with 
fear, and said, " What shall we do ? " 

Peter knew very well what to tell them. It was only 
a little while since he had denied that he even knew his 
dear Master, but he had repented and been forgiven, and 
he knew there was just one way for sinners to find peace, 
and that was to repent and go to Jesus for forgiveness. 
That was what he told them to do, to repent and be 



THE BELIEVING PEOPLE. 285 

baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, 
" Every one of you." Just the same way for the proud 
priests and doctors and the poor beggars, the old white- 
headed men and the little children. Some^ of the peo- 
ple did not like that. They thought they were good 
enougli already. Some of them thought they were too 
wise to be taught by a poor fisherman, and some of them, 
I dare say, just laughed and went away. 

But a great many listened and obeyed, and about three 
thousand were converted that very day and joined the 
company of the disciples. Some of them were poor, and 
some were rich, but their hearts were so full of this new 
spirit of love that they were all like one family, and 
shared what they had together. The rich men that had 
more than they needed divided with the others, and so 
everyone had enough. And every day they went up to 
the temple to praise God, and then went about from 
house to house talking about these wonderful things. 

Such a company of happy people was never seen in 
Jerusalem before, and it is not strange that all who saw 
them loved them, and said these were indeed blessed 
people. And as they went about telling the story oth- 
ers who heard believed also ; and so day by day the com- 
pany grew larger, just as God's Church would always grow 
if we all loved each other like brothers and sisters, if we 
were all ready to share the pleasant things which we 
have with those who have less than we ; if every day 
and everywhere we told the story of good news through 
the Lord Jesus, and, best of all, were so glad and 
happy and full of thanksgiving that everyone would say, 
'' What happy people ! it must be good to be like them." 

Before Jesus went up again to heaven he told his dis- 
ciples that they should be his witnesses everywhere. 



286 HOME TALKS ABOUT THE WORD. 

That was why they were to receive this Spirit of power ; 
so that they might be wise enough and brave enough to 
witness for their Master. And he says to every one of 
us, '' You are my witnesses." When the Lord Jesus 
was on trial they brought false witnesses to tell 
things that were not true about him. It is a dread- 
ful thing to be a lying witness, but if God's children are 
selfish and angry and impertinent and unkind, I ani 
afraid that is very much like bearing false witness. For 
when the people who are asking, *' What kind of a Mas- 
ter do you serve ? " see all these unlovely things in you, 
they say, " Well, I do not care about serving God if he 
has such servants as that." 

So it is best always to remember that wherever we 
are and whatever we do we may be witnessing for God. 
We can work like Christians, do everything thoroughly 
and cheerfully and promptly ; we can study like Chris- 
tians, improving the time and doing our best always ; we 
can play like Christians, by being fair and honest and 
unselfish and good-natured ; in fact, there is not a thing 
we do from morning till night which will not be better 
done by always remembering, '' I am one of God's wit- 
nesses." I am so glad that they did not forget to put it 
into the story of those early disciples that they were 
such a happy people and went about praising God and 
eating their meat with gladness of heart. Gladness of 
heart means a blessed kind of gladness very deep down, 
and very warm and bright, so that even trouble could 
not darken it. Gladness of heart is like the peace that 
Jesus said he would give his children, a peace that 
nobody could take away. 



